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This is a Dc Luxe Edition of the RED 
QUlDOhl of which Six Hundred copies luere 

printed. This being No and the 

property o/ 





O Our Friends; to the Girl we 
left behind, who wrote encour- 
aging letters and distributed 
coffee at the Red Cross Can- 
teen; to Kid Sister, who learned to knit 
that she might make us a sweater; to 
the "Old Man," who took a hitch to his 
trousers, worked three hours more a day 
and bought "beaucoup" Liberty Bonds; 
and to Mother, who laughed with us, 
wept over us, prayed for us and worried 
lest we forget to wear woolen socks; and, 
in short, to all those people, everywhere, 
who helped to make Army Life endur- 
able and who kept us cheerful "Over 
There" this Book is affectionately 
dedicated. 



Mv 



RED GUIDON 



ii 



Soixante Qiiinzc^^ 



Being a Complete Illustrated 

History oi B Battery 

134th Field Artillery 

fro7n 

1915 to 1919 




PIJDLISHED BY 

The Red Guidon Association 

AKRON, OHIO, LI. S. A. 



COPYRIGHT 1920 

BY THE RED C-UIDON ASS'N 

AKRON. OHIO 



. Ki4 




MAR 12 



©CI. A 5 

!92Q 



66648 



p 



Preface 

iRACTICALL^' e\ery collet;e and unixersity in the United States, at 
the close of the college year, gets out what is known as a "year-book, 
or college annual. It is a book that holds a complete resume of 
college life. It contains the history of the freshman, sophomore, junior, 
and senior classes for the year, giving their \arious activities during that 
year; in athletics— in the class-room— along musical lines— everything 
that has happened of interest, and that is worthy of record. It has to 
do. particularly, with the seniors: that body of men who are going out 
into the world to make a name for themselves, to fight life's battles, 
and to carve their own particular niches in the Hall ot F-ame, 

It IS a good thing, this college annual, for it is Memory through 
the medium of pen and ink. Many, many men ha\ e referred to their 
college careers as "the happiest years of my life." These are the years 
they like to remember and the years they like to look back on. When 
memory grows hazy, the year-book shows its \alue. for the tired business 
man can sit and flip the pages idly, and go back — back to the days 
when the workl was irresponsible and carefree. 

Why this dissertation' This then, is our year-book We are 
presenting the B Battery year-book of l^^Kl school -the LInited States 
,^rm\■. It was a school of hard knocks, of a new outlook on life, and 
after all. the best school in the world— the school of Experience We 
learned many things, self-reliance mainly; some of us learned one lesson, 
some another, but we all learned something, our \iewpoint was broad- 
ened, and we benefited thereby. School is o\er and we ha\-e 
graduated. We ha\e recei\ed our diplomas (in the shape of an honor- 
able discharge) and we ha\e laid aside our uniforms (for it was a de- 
cidedly military institution) and like the seniors, we are once again going 
out into the world— and going our separate ways. We are breaking, 
some of us. the friendships of three years standing; we are breaking up 
intimacies that were \ery. very pleasant. We ha\e come to the parting 
of the ways, and with many of us there is a genuine regret. In alter 
years, we are going to forget a great many of the hardships, and think 
only of the funny things that happened, and the things that went to 
make life worth while. 

That IS the purpose of this book, and in the years to come, if the Red 
C]uidon serves in taking you back to the days of mess-kits, reveille, red 
hat-cords, barrages, and to the days of our "comraderie;" if it helps you 
remember the pleasant things of army-life, and the friends in B Battery- 
then we. the editors, shall be more than satisfied. 



THi: ROLL CALL 

OF B BATTEOT VVm I9IO TO I9I9 

B BATTERY ROSTER 

Note. This- rosti-T is cdmplete. includin>i the names of all the oihcers and enlisted men in B Battery 
Irom June 1'^^ l^^lb. to the date of demobilisation. April 10. I'-'^M 1 he rank, as siven. is the 
rank held by the ot=tieer or enlisted man at the time ol leaxinf.^ B Battery and does not 
Si\e the rank that may ha\e been attained later in other organizations. 

Note. As a means of telling just how long, or at what period a man ser\ed with B Batter\. the lol- 
lowing key is gi\en — I. C:amp Willis; 2. Border Serxiee; 3, Camp Perry; 4. bt, lienjamin 
Harrison; ^. Camp Sheridan; (\ American Expeditionary borces in Franee. 

Note In some cases, it has been impossible to get the complete data and inloimation, where 
addresses, etc . ha\c been omitted, such has been the case. 

Albrecht, Hurl j , Captain. 22 Mt \ lew A\e-, Akron, Ohio 1-2-3-4 

.Mexandcr, Ross G. Pri\ ate, R 1-n, Cilenmont, Ohio . . . 1 

,\lion, Ray, Prixate. Fayette, Ohio -. -- - - '^ 

.Antlrews, C R , Pri\ate, .Akron. Ohio _ _ -- ' 

.Anstctt. brank. Prnate, 1 70(1 Fulton .\\e., E\ans\ille, Ind .__ - ^'' 

Ashley, John b . Private, Bentonville, Ark. _ _ __ 3-4-5-h 

Atchison, Owen W . Private. R.F.D. No. \ Minola, Texas - ^^^ 

,\ult. Claire. Prnate, Akron. Ohio - - 1-^-> 

Babbitt, John A , 1st Ft, 710 Wellsley Ave. Akron. Ohio -- - '-2-^ 

Baer, Russell A, Corporal. Ibl Ash St., Akron, Ohio _ _. --. 1-2 

Baldwin, Albert R,. Prnate, 420 S. Maple St., Winchester, Ky. .- 3-4-5-b 

Barkle. Eugene I- ,. Prnate. 730 Carroll St , Akron, Ohio , _ .. - - 3-4-5-h 

Barrett, bord. Prnate. Crescent Apts,. W Market St., Akron, Ohio ----- -1-2-3-4-^ 

Bass. Wm. A , Prnate. Cray\ille. Ill ( 340 Perkins, Akron, Ohio) _ . - - - - 1-2-3-4-5-0 

Bausman, Wm K, Corporal, 100 Baird St., Barbcrton, Ohio 4-5-b 

Bcckleheimer. Clarence. Private, 1413 E. Gilbert St., Muncie, Ind - - .. - 5-b 

Behrens. Wm I- . Prnate. Akron, Ohio, _i-2-3-4--> 

Bender, Flwood C. Private, 31 Oakdale. Akron. Ohio - - ----- - 1-^ 

Bennett, James R., Prnate, 308 Tulane Rd,, Columbus, Ohio -. 4-5-P 

Berson, Dax id, Prnate, 1S7 Nieman St , Akron, Ohio _ -- -- -- - - - 3-4-5-b 

Bittinger, Henry C , Prn ate, 429 Bruner St., Daytonia, Pa - - 3-4-5-0; 

Blake. Earl E, Private, 1147 Seventh Ave., Akron. Ohio -- -- 3-4-5-t> 

Blackw ood. liarry. Prn ate, 94 [• ir St , .Akron. Ohio 1 

Boone, Hugh E. , Corporal - . _ - - - - ' -*- 

Borden, Alvin D., Private, Killbuck, Ohio .- - - 1-2-3-4-5 

Bowcn. C:iaude T., Sergeant. 925 Bluff Road. Canton, Ohio __ 1-2-3-4-5 

Bowman, Howard O., Corporal. 532 E. Market St., Akron, l Ihio - - 1-2-3-4 

Bowman, Samuel P., Private, R,F-.D, No. 11, Fogansport, Ind. ^-t' 

Bowman, Russell. Private. 532 E. Market St.. Akron, Ohio -- 1 

Breese, Fee, Prnate-.,- - - - '--"^ 

Brewer, Charles R. Corporal. R.F.D. No. 3, Bloomville, Ohio -..-.- - --. ___3-4-5-0 

Brewer, Wm I . Prn ate. R.b^D. No, 3, Bloomville, Ohio 3-4-5-0 

Bright, Morgan W. Prnate. 332 I-irst St, Aspinwall, Pa, 3-4-5-b 

Brow er, Charles, Mechanic - - . - - [ 

Bruner, George, Corporal. 2c>3 S. .Arlington St . .Akron. Ohio -_ --. .. 1-2-3-4-') 

Bullard. Stanley W. Corporal. Andover, (^hio ., -- 1-2-3-4-5 



Page 10 ^'/^t' ^^^''^ Guidon 



Bush, Lewis D, Private, Cedarvil'e, W. Va. _ _ 4-5-6 

Butcher, Wm. j., jr.. Mechanic, 475 Orchard Court, .Akron, Ohio 3-4-5-6 

Caldwell. Percy W., 1st Lieut,, 2l0 College St., Akron, Ohio _ 1 

Capron, George A., Cook, 195 N. ZbthSt., Kenmore, Ohio 4-5-6 

Carpenter, Lee, Private, 1 1 Stafford St, Worcester, Mass, b 

Carroll, Dan F., Private, E. Eighth St., Columbus, Ohio ..-._ 1-2-3-4 

Carson, Edward, Private, East Ave., Matuk, R. 1 . _.. . .3-4-5 

Carson, Luther L, Private, 317 Torrey St . Akron, Ohio. ... . . -.. .1-2-3-4-5-6 

Chapman, Albert T., Pri\ate, Ivokomo, Ind . . . ...... . ..5-6 

Chapman. Chas. Pri\ate . ^ 1 

Cheney, Gail. 2nd Lieut ' 

Chronister, George O., Private, R.F.D. No. 1. North Manchc-tcr. Ind. _ .... 5-6 

Clark, Arnold [5. Private, 1001 W. Broadway, Princeton. InJ . . .... 5-6 

Clark, Fred E., private, Tionesta, Pa. . . . 1-2-3-4-5-6 

Clark, Llewellyn B., Private, 21b Smith St., Akron, Ohio - . .^ .. .. 3-4-5-0 

Clark, Maurice L., Private, 21b Smith St., Akron, Ohio ...._. 3-4-5-6 

Cochran, James D., Corporal, ( Ib6 W. E.xchange St , .Akron, Ohio) Warsaw, Ohio. _.. . . 3-4-5-6 
Cooper, Arthur F"., Private, 337 Graves Court, Akron, Ohio . . 1-2-3-4-5 

Cordon. Rene, Private, 750 Gladwyn A\e., Detroit, Mich ... b 

Couchey, George F., Private. Esse.x Co., Essex, N^'. . — 3-4-5-b 

Cox, Clayton, Private, R.F.D. No. b, Rock^ille, Ind. 6 

Cox, Elbert L., Sergeant, R.F.D. No. 2, Galax, W Va .... . .1-2-3-4-5 

Craig, Robert, Private, Green\ille. Ohio _. . .. . .1-2-3 

Crawford, Eugene C. Pri\ ate _ - '-2 

Craver, Myron B., Corporal, Brooklyn, Pa. - 3-4-5-b 

Creveling, Clyde j.. Private, 115 W. Cedar St., Akron, Ohio . . 3-4-5 

Grossman, Hal M., Private, 324 Miles St., "ipsilanti, Mich. _ 4-5 

Cunningham, l^-ed. Private, 11 Willard St., Akron, Ohio. . 4-5-0 

Cunningham. George W., Private. 332 Wood Ave, Sister\ille, W. \ a. ... 1-2-3-4-5-0 

Curry, Charles R., Sergeant, Altoona, Pa - 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Curtin, George D, 1st Lieut, b24 Mulberry St., Clarksburg, W \ ;i ... '^-i^ 

Davidson. Earl j. Private, 52b Madison Ave , Cambridge, Ohio . .... 3-4-5-0 

Davis, Homer, Corporal, Madison. Wis ........ 1-2-3 

Davis, Paul v., Corporal. 17 Spruce St , .Akron, Ohio . .. ^-4-5 

Davis. Martin, Private, W, South St., Akron, Ohio ... 1-2 

Dee, Wilbur, Private, Williamsport, Ind. -- - - "^-^ 

Delaney, Lee, Private, 1 1 3 W. Spring St., Crawfords\ille. Ind .. . b 

Demshaw, Andrew, Pri\ ate, Lawndale, Ohio 4-i 

Desaussure, Lewis [3, Private, 410 E. Coffee St., Greenville, S. C. ... 4-5-b 

Deselms, Lester W, Private, 1301 Bcule\arLl, Kenmore, Ohio . ..... .. 4-5-b 

Dougherty, Harry. Private . . . — - — - 3-4-1 

Downey, John E. F'rivate. 2737 P St.. Lincoln. Neb. .- - ''-6 

Dreese. Mark A., Private, 301 Fountain St., Akron, Ohio . 3-4-5-0 

Dunn, Wilbur, Sergeant, Broad St., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio ... . -. .1-2-3-4-5-0 

Eck, Raymond, Private, 1032 Garfield St , S. W., Canton, Ohio ... -- . '> 

Eckert, Homer O., Private, 231 Windsor Ave., Akron, (^hio ... ... 3-4-5-6 

Edwards, Kenneth, Private, Rhodes Ave, Akron, Ohio . ._._.. . ...1 

Edwards, Warren E.. Private, 314 E. 8th St., Mishawaka, Ind. 5-0 

Eggleston, Roger S, Sergeant, Mt. Vernon, Ohio ^. 6 

Engle, Elmer H . Private, 712 E. Jefferson St., Fort Wayne, Ind... 5-6 

Evans, Oscar, Private ' 

Exner, Fred A., Corporal, 274 So. Main St., Akron, Ohio . . 1-2-3-4-5-6 

Falardeau, Alphonse, Sergeant, Lonttiville, Conti de Duebec, Province de Quebec, 

Canada 1-2-3-4-5 



The Red Guidim PageJA 

Farahaugh, James C. Pn\ate. ElmshurR, Pa. vl't' 

Faulkner, John A.. Private, Maclison, N. j. , Vrt^t 

F«tch, William L . Sergeant, 233 Chittenden Ave., Columbus, Ohio j-7.3_4.',.b 

Filley, Earl F., Private. 4Q North Balch St., Akron, Ohio 1-2 

Fissel, Ralph F., Private, R h.D. Xo, 4, Fogansport, Ind ---^ 

Fitzpatriek, Feo j , Corporal, 1412 Jackson St., Scranton. Pa. __3-4-5-b 

Flickinger, FelanJ A, Private, Wellington, Ohio. -- ^"-^"^ 

Foltz, Wm., Pri\ate, 4b3 Carroll St., Akron, Ohio '"^ 

Ford, Holton N., Private, P. O. Box 383, 437 N. Miami St., Wabash, Ind .^__4-5-b 

Foshee, Mitchell P, Private, Billmgsley, Ala. _ _.. - V , c"*^ 

Fouts, Harry F., Bugler, (.MI'S N. Seventh St., Zanesville, Ohio .- 3-4-5-b 

F^oust, Clarence R-, Corporal, New Milford, Ohio '"2 

Fox, GeorgeO, Private. R.F D, No, 2, Milford, Ind ^"^ 

Freelander, Abe F , Prnate, 185 Perkins St., Akron, Ohio _. -1-2 

[•riel, John R. Private, 7I^M-ifth.\ve., Altoona, Pa . _ 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Fries, George F, Private. S27 S Thirteenth St., Terre Haute, Ind, ''-t^ 

Fuchs. Norman H.. Private, 2(10 Beck Ave., Akron, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

F-\ilmer, Earnest A . Private. 575 Carroll St., Akron, Ohio .- -^-^-t' 

k\ink. John A., Pri\ ate, 2b2 Gordon Dri\e, Akron, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Gall. John S., Private, SiKer Fake, Ind -''"^ 

Gates, Dorsey, Private \ i -\ 

George, Charles, Private, ^87 Sawyer Ave , Akron, Ohio 3-4- vb 

Gibson. M H,, Private, New Concord. Ohio •-- i-A--)^ 

Glasgow, Martin A., Private, 13 Grant Ave,, \'andergrift. Pa ^-^-^ 

Good, Frank M,, Private, Conneaut, Ohio. __. -- - - ' '^ 

Graham, Everett T, Private, 1121 Short St , Vincennes, Ind --^-^ 

Graham. Fouis W., Corporal, 340 Willow St., Akron, C^hio '"2 

Gray, Frank W,, 2nd Fieut., Jacksonville, Me.. ^ 

Greene, Charles, Private, 32 Kirkvvood St., Akron, Ohio _ .. 

Greene, Frederick H,, Ft Sergeant, 215 N, Mam St , Spencer. Ind , 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Greenberg, Harry, Corporal, 207 Ash St., Akron, Ohio ^-^"^ 

GrilTin, Bruce P., 1st Fieut . 7 Gardner Place, Oneonta. N. ^■. ^"^ 

Grimm, George. Private, ^^'24 Camden St., Akron. Ohio. 1-2-3-4-5 

Gruesing, Fred D.. Priv ate. 2 1 7 S, Nineteenth St,, Terre Haute, Ind, . . 5-b 

Gruver, Gerald A, Private, 131 Westvvdod Ave , Orrville, Ohio .-. 3-4-5-b 

Guinther, Victor H,, Private, (Glenmont, Ohio) 4^15 Talbot Ave, Akron, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Guinther Robert, Supply Sergeant, 553 Stratford Ave., Akron, Ohio . . 1-2 

Guhck, Wm, C, Private, .'Xuburn | unci ion, Ind ''^ 

Gulick, R, A. Private, Marvin Ave . Akron, Ohio _. -_- ' 

Hageman, Earl D., Chief Mechanic, 323 W. Market St., Akron, Ohio 3-4->-b 

Hall, Howard M, Mess Sergeant, Akron, Ohio. 1-2 

Haller, Taylor B., Private. 2b Adams St . Akron, Ohio ^-*-5 

Hamilton, Private, Akron, Ohio -- -- 

Hapenny, Charles G, Private, Harmony, Ind, _- - ^-" 

Haimeyer, Frank J , Private, 100^ S Governor St., Evansville, Ind 5-b 

Harris, George W., Private, 2^'>5 Arch St., Akron. Ohio. 3-4-5-b 

Harris. Harry C. Private, P O. Box 4b, Eustis, Fla, 3-4-5-b 

Harris, Percy F., Private. 22bl Mahoning Road N. E., Canton, Ohio ■^-^-'-^ 

Hatch, Robert G,, 2nd Fieut., Forena. Texas ----^ 

Hedges, Harrv H , Sergeant, Chippewa Fake. Ohio 1-2-3-4 

Hclsel, Glenn H,, Bugler, RED No. 1, Box No. 8. Berlin Center, O 3-4-5-b 

Herbert, Roland, Corporal, 17 AubLirn St , Maiden, Mass ''^'\'\ 

Hickel, Harrv, Private, 874 Haynes St , Akron, C^hu. '-2 



Page 12 The Red Guidon 



Hicmcl, John F., Pri\ ate. 1^7 Hiph St., Barberton, Ohio .__ _3-4-5 

Hiiicman. Edwin G., Pri\'ate. 257 School St., Cuyahoga [-alls. Ohio ^-t^ 

Hitchcock, Harvey R., Sergeant _ - 1-2-'' 

Hobensack. Stewart R, Corporal, Belpre. Ohio . _ .... „... .-. 1-2-3-4-5 

Hoffman, Wm. b". Sergeant, 375 Park St., Akron, Ohio___. 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Hogue. James L., Pri\ate. 713 Bisson A\e., Akron, Ohio . 3-4-5-b 

Holle, \Vm. F.. Pri\ate. Charlestown. W. Va. b 

Hollenbeck. Oscar D., Sergeant. 7b E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave.. Akron, O 1-2-3-4 

Holton, P. C. Private \ .". . 1 

Hoo\er, Martin D., Pri\ate. FBerlin Center, Ohio ..3-4-5-b 

Honick, Wm.. Pri\atc. 88^ Glenn Ave., Akron. Ohio . . . .1 

Hosback, Harry E., Sergeant, R.F.D. No. 5, Plymouth. Mich. 1-2-3-4 

Hovis. Wm. R.". Corporal, R.F.D. No. 5, Bo.x No. 4b. Wilkinsburg. Pa 3-4-5-b 

Hoyt, Charles, Horseshoer, Firestone Rooms, 17 t^achtel, Akron. Ohio . 1 

Hudson. Henry G., Private, Petros, Tenn. . . ._. 4-5 

Hull. Eret E., Horseshoer, 1^4 N. Main St . London. Ohio . .. 3-4-5-p 

Hunsicker, Basil, Bugler, Akron. Ohio . . . - . 1-2 

Hunter. Jesse. Private. 305 S. A St., Ellwood, Ind 5-6 

Iscnman. Louis P., Sergeant. 3n(-i Crosby St., Akron. Ohio . . _ . I -2-^-4-5-b 

Jackson, Harold, l-'rixate. Akron, Ohio .... ... 1 

Jackson, John M , Corporal. 1513 [Xieber Ave., S. W., Canton. Ohio. .. ... . . 3-4-5-h 

Jackson, Percy \\ . Pri\ ate. 1 5 L3 Dueber A\e., S. W., Canton, Ohio ... ... . . 3-4-5 

Jackson, Straud B , Mechanic, 1 183 Fourth Ave , Akron, Ohio ... . . . ........ .3-4-5-h 

Jacobs, Edward V , Pri\ ate. bbl Hazel St., Akron. Ohio. .. " .. .-. .. .3-4-5-1-1 

Jameson. John H , Prixate. Quimby Street, Ibh W Exchange St , Akron, Ohio . ._ . 4-5-(-i 

Jay, Henry D, Private, U. S. Regular Army .... . . .-. 1-2 

Jenkins. Alston C, Private. R.F.D. No. 1 , Masontown, W. Va. ....... 3-4-5-0 

Jensen, Dan P.. Pri\ate, Da\ey, Neb. .. ... ..3-4-5 

Johnston. Joseph J., Captain. 755 E. Market St.. Akron, Ohio. 1-2-3-4-5 

Johnson, George, Pri\ate . ... . 1 

Jones, Paul M., Pii\ate. 847 \V. Main St . Ra\enna. Ohio 1-2-3-4 

Jones, John P., PriNate, o30 \V. Chapel St . Columbus. Ohio. . . 5-b 

Jump, Claude A . Pri\ate. Ci8 N 10th St . Kenmore, Ohio . . 1-2 

Jump. Ira C, I^ruate. 1 1 N. 10th St., Kenmorc, Ohio . 1-2 

Kaichen, 1 roy, 1st Lieut., b8b Cjholson A\e.. Cincinnati, Ohio . 5 

Kalaher, Ross R.. Pri\ate, 404 Doyle St.. Akron, Ohio 3-4-5-p 

Kaxcnagh, Carl J., Captain. Boston, Mass. . . . 1-2-3-4-5-p 

Kelly, Joseph B, Corporal. 47 Hawthorne A\e., Akron, Ohio . .. 1-2-3-4-5-p 

Kelly, Thomas, Pri\ ate, 47 Hawthorne A\e., Akron, Ohio. . .. . .. 4-5 

Kelly. Wm, Pri\ ate, 231 Ohio Building, Akron, Ohio. 1-2 

King, L. B.. Pri\ ate, N. Portage Path, Akron, Ohio .. . .. . .. 1 

Kluge. Raymond. Private, .Akron. Ohio . . . . . — ... 1-2 

Kneff, Raymond A., Sergeant, *^T38 .Ardmore .'\\ e, . Akron. Ohio 1-2-3-4 

Kougelis, John, Private, 33Q Michigan A\e., Indiana Harbor. Ind. b 

Kramer, Thomas J., Private, 1 2 5(.i South Bend Ave , South Bend, ind . .... 5-b 

Krue, EdwardJ., Private, 314 E. F^ilth St., Madison, Ind. . ... 5-b 

Krycler, George, Corporal, 3bl Highland .^ve.. Akron. Ohio . .... . 1 

Lange, Charles, 1st Sergeant, 852 S, Sumner. Akron, Ohio .. . .... .- 1-2-3-4 

Lane, Gilbert F,, Corporal, Akron, Ohio .... 1-2 

Lamiell, Clyde E., Private, 12Q Ochard Road, Barberton, Ohio . ... ...4-5-b 

Lathomar, Russell L.. Corporal, Care of Canton Electric li l.-^ngineering Co , Canton. Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Lavcry, Richard T., Stable Sergeant, 10b W. E.xchange St . .Akron. Ohio .. .4-5-b 

Lavvandales, Frank, Private. 47 Columbus St , Charlestown, S. C. — b 



The Red liuidon Paije VI 



La\maii. Otto O . Prixatc, ^21 MontgomciA St-, I-^oi't Wu\-ne. InJ ' 5-6 

Leahy, Wm. H.. C^.aptain, 710 W. Main St.. Massillon, (.Ihio ]-2-3-4-5-b 

Lee, Glenn R. Pri\ate, Plymouth. Ind. _ _ _ . 5-b 

Lenihan, Wm A,. Prixatc. 147'-^ HiL;h St , Pans, Ky 4.5-ti 

Limback, Roy C, Private, Massillon, Ohio, _. 1-2-3 

Lippa. Clarence E. . f^ri\ate. Cleveland. Ohio 3-4-5 

Loni^, Albert. Private. U. S. Rcf^ular .Army 1-2-3 

Lynch, Patrick M . Sergeant, 3b Stone St.. Cuyahoga Falls. Ohio _. ]-2-3-4-5-b 

Lynch, W. k . [^ri\ ate, 3b Stone St.. Cuyahoga Falls. Ohio 1 

McCollum, kldvvin M,, Corporal. 517 W. Ihird St , Mishawaka, Ind , 1-2-3-4-5-b 

McCormick, James, Private, Akron. Ohio _. 1-2 

McCormick. Lyle. Stable Sergeant. Akron. Ohio 1-2 

McCormick. Ralph H , f^rivate, 2318 Quebec Road, Cincinnati, (^hio _ 5-b 

McCracken. Winfield C... Private. 470 Perkins St . Akron. Ohio 5-b 

McEntee, Jensen A.. Corporal, 4Q0 E. Market St.. Akron, Ohio___ 1-2-3 

McLeeley, .'Mien K, Private, Elmora, Pa, _ _ _ _. ._ _ 4-i-b 

McGovvan. Wm. Private, 1071 W. Exchange St, Akron, Ohio 3-4 

McCjacken. wm , fxMporal, Akron, Ohio ,, _.. 1 

Mcl\ecver, Wm , CxHik, L' S ,\rmv-at-Large _. . 1-2 

McPherson, Rcjscoe Li , Priv ate, f^arkersburg. W. Va ... . 1-2 

McMillan, Roy. Private, 425 Hickory St . Akron. Ohio . ._ . __l-2 

Mahoney. James. Private . 1 

Maiden. Henry, Private. 2^13 3 Cji'ove Ave, Lorain. Ohio ._ 1-2-3-4 

Manlev. Leo. Private. 1402 Scov ille Ave. Canton, Ohio . ._ 1 

.Martin, Wm L, Private, 1 2 1 Storer Ave. Akron, Ohio . _., 1-2-3-4-5 

.Mai V in, Stephen (i. Private, v'lO'-'' Ridge .Ave. Cincinnati, Oliio . _ ... _. 5-b 

Mason. AllrcLl S , C^iok, 1 racv Citv , lenn _ . ... 4-5-b 

\ lathes, Bulor^.1 li, Pnvcite, learokKtovvn, 1 cnn . _ . . ?-4-i.o 

May. Boyd H. ._ . _ _ i .... . 5 

Meagher, '1 homas, Priv ate ..... . _. . 1 

Meirill, Robert, Private, lb5 Prospect St., Ravenna, Ohio _ ..^ 4 

.Michael, lohn 11. Corporal. 7b Elizabeth St. Akron, Ohio .._ . _. 3-4-i-p 

Michael, I homas, [^riv ate, 7b Elizabeth St., Akron, Ohio .. . . 3-4-S-ci 

Miller. Clyde W . Sergeant. 1327 .Atcheson St, Columbus, Ohio. _ . . 1.2-^-4-i-b 

Miller, Donald. Private. bQ7 W Market St.. Akron, Ohio . .. 1-2-3-4-5 

Miller, George C. Corporal, 1 1 I 7 lH)urteenth St , [\:)uglas, .Arizona . _ ... . ._ ■!-4-5-o 

\ liller. How ard k , Priv ate, 42 I Sherman St , .Akron, Ohio ... . _ . . 3-4-S-o 

Miller, Robert W, Private, I F'> Lexington Ave, Columbus, Ohio ... . .1-2-3 

Mogensen, Christian. Priv ate. Care of A. Jenson. Davey, Neb. 3-4-5-p 

-Moledor. Carl H , Priv ate, North Canton. Ohio ti 

Moock. Harold M. Private. Canton Engineering li. Electric Cx) . f~anton, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Moore. Harrv C^, . Private, 404 E Louisiana St . Indianapolis. In^l _ 5-6 

Moore, Lee Cj. 2nd Lieut , 5717 Peabody Ave. (~.incinnali. Ohio .. _ . _ 5-b 

Moore. Lewis \\ , Private, 130 .McCortney St.. Easton. Pa ^-4--;-(i 

Mrose. Ralph C]. Sergeant. 1025 l-ourth St . N. W, Canton, Ohio ..._ .. ... |_2-]-4-5-b 

Mu;phy. Archie W , Private, RL.D. No. 3, Box No I 1 L Morgantovvn, W \'a ... 3-4-5-b 

Mu;phv , Llovd Ci Pi ivate. L naka. N. C . . _ . . . . .b 

Muiphy, Wm k , Private, SI 7 Cornell St , L-iarberton, Ohio . . 3-4-5-0 

MuelLr. Allied W, Private, 5o Marvin Ave. Akron, Ohio . . .. ...4-5 

Mueller. George E. Private, b21 Weber St.. Akron. Ohio . . 1-2 

Myers, Howard E,, 1st Lieut , 8]^^ West En^l .Ave. New "I'ork City ..... 6 

New kirk. Bruce P., Corporal, 4 3-; Li Market St. Akron. Ohid .... . 3-4-i 

Newman, i-lobert B., Sergeant, 2 7 Ft Euclid Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 1-2-3-4-5-b 



Page I'l The Red Guidon 



Norris, WenJall H,, Bugler. Mogadore, Ohio 1-2-3-4 

Northrup, Donald M., Corporal. b3 Grand A\e,. Akron. Ohio 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Nycamp, George W., Corporal. Chagrin flails Ohio 3-4-5-b 

O'Brien, Francis, Private. __. . _ 1 

Ogier. John A.. Private, 3 1 2 E, Tuscarawas, Barberton, Ohio 4-5-0 

Outland. Orland P., Mess Sergeant, 255 W. Center St.. Akron, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Owens, Wnr. Pruate. 3b2 Weeks St., Akron, Ohio _ _ 3-4-5-b 

Palmer, Russell L, Supply Sergeant. Akron, Ohio -_l-2-3 

Pague. Charles A.. Prnatc. '^SO Garfield A\e.. Price Hill. Cincinnati. Ohio- ^ __ 6 

Parmer. Theo. L. Prnate. 1 3CK^ Missouri St., E. St. Louis, 111. 5-6 

Pearson, Wm. H., Private. bQ E. High St.. Salem. ( )hio _ 3-4-5-b 

Peoples, Vaughn L, Pri\ ate. Wallacetown. Pa. 3-4-5-b 

Peters. Henry O. Private. P. O. Bo.\ No, 38. Brookville. HI. . __b 

Poling, Roscoe A., Supply Sergeant, 18'-~) S. Main St.. Akron. Ohio I -2- 3-4-5-b 

Possehl, Arthur R , Pri\ate, b8 Dartmore Ave., Akron, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Powell, Kenneth M., Private, 100 E. Market St., Akron, (^hio .__l-2 

Powers, Theodore, Corporal, b8 North Forge Street, .Akron, (.^hio 1 -2-3 

Price, Guy W. . Prixate, North Canton, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Purdy, Wesley W. , Pri\ ate, Killbuck, Ohio 1-2 

Rafeld. W. C. 403 Boulevard, Kenmore, Ohio _ 1-2 

Reddington, Ralph W , Private, New Waterford, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Redman, John D. , Private. Cynthina, Ohio . 5-b 

Reynolds, Oda. Private, RED. No. 1, Bo.\ No. 2b, Lowell, C^hio 3-4-5-b 

Rhoads, Harry O., Private, lb4 Adams St., Akron, Ohio 1-2 

Rich, Wm. . Horseshoer. .'\kron. Ohio _... __ 1-2 

Richards, Alfred C. Private, 108 Bowery St , Akron, Ohio A-2 

Richmond, Alfred L., Corporal, Kenmore. Ohio . 1-2-3 

Riden, Robert L.. Private, b Market St , Louistown, Pa._ 4-5-b 

Ritter, Alton V.. Corporal, Ritter's Studio, I^latiron Building, Akron. Ohio 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Robertson, Harry, Private, R.F-.D. No I . Llnionville, Ohio _._ 5-b 

Robinson, Ered, Private, 278 W. South St . Akron. (3hio 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Rogers, Wilber L , Private, Lavvnsdale, Ohio _ 4-5-b 

Romily, Edward, Supply Sergeant, Akron, Ohio _ . 1 

Rood, George D., Private, 3 12 Tuscarawas Ave.. Barberton. Ohio 4-5-6 

Rowen, Howard, Private, 1 3'-^ Orchard .Ave . Barberton, Ohio 1 

Rubright, Miles S., Corporal. 414 .Ash St , Akron, Ohio . 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Saalfield, Arthur J ., 1st Sergeant. 85 Belv edere Way. Akron, Ohio 1-2 

Samsey, John, Sergeant, Akron, Ohio_ 1-2-3 

Sanders, Erritt S., Private, R.F.D. No. 2. Marion. Ohio 4-5-b 

Sapperfield, Ira V., Private, RE. L^). No, I , Box No. I 1 , Oblong. 111. 5-6 

Sauter, Edward E., Private, 632b McCollum St., Philadelphia, Pa 1-2-3-4-5 

Say re, Jesse L.. Private, (Townsville, Pa.) b42 Hazel St.. Akron. Ohio___ 3-4-5-b 

Scales. James G., Private, Merriman Road and Edgerton Road. Akron, Ohio 1 

Schieb, Charles, Private, 1 1 15 Laird Street, Akron, Ohio _ ___1 

Schmok. Brainard W., Private, 18b8 Rosalind .'\ve,. East Cleveland, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Schneider, Wm,, Bugler, Engine House No. 5. Buchtel Ave.. Akron, OhiO- _ . _ 1-2 

Schnitzler, Joseph J., Private, E, Sixth St., Eostoria. Ohio. . . ...1-2-3-4-5-b 

Schnake. Clifford W.. Corporal, 3 1 Scoville Ave., S W., Canton, C^hio 3-4-5-b 

Schrader, John G., Private, 744^ ■> E. North St., Indianapolis. Ind, 1-2-3-4-5 

Schrank, Carl P.. Private. 401 Bass Ave., Akron. Ohio _ 1-2-3-4-5-b 

Schreiner, Joseph J., Private, 523 Vine St.. Akron. Ohio . .- 3-4-5 

Schwalbach, Gilbert D.. Private. 1040 East Ave.. Akron. Ohio . 3-4-5-b 

Schwarts, DeWitt, Private, 55bO Gates Ave., St Louis, Mo. . 3-4-5 

Scott, Donald B., Sergeant, Ustis, Fla. . 1-2-3-4-5-6 



ilie lied Guidon Paqe 15 

Scott. Ralph W.. Corporal, Mingo junction. Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Sco\ille. Clyde. Pri\ate ___ _ _ | 

Scroggs, CliiTord H,. 2nd Lieut.. ti8Q Hoover St.. Columbus. Ohio .__5 

Sedberry. Sidney W.. Cook, Eddyville, Ky. _ . _ . . 3-4- Vb 

Seiberling, Frederick J., Corporal. N. Portage Path. Akron, Ohio 1-2-3-4 

Seikel, Charles R.. Horseshoer, 51 Kuder A\e,, .Akron. Ohio _ 3-4-5-b 

Shal^er. Paul, Private. 218 Park St.. .Akron. Ohio '/."_//..._. ] 

Sharp. Charles T,. Pri\ate. 137 N. Eighth St., New Philadelphia. Ohio . 3-4-5-b 

Sharp. Wm, Mcl\inle\, Pri\ ate. R, I- D. Mechanicstown, Ohio 4-5 

Shaw, Horace C. Sergeant. 1532 Samson St.. Philadelphia. Pa. .._ i-2-3-4-5-b 

Sheets, Marshall H. Pri\ate. R.F.D. No. 1, Crown City. Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Shepard. Michael B., Prnate, 573 Well St.. Steuben\ille. Ohio 5-0 

Shere, Joseph N., Sergeant. Carmi. 111. _ 3-4-5-b 

Shere, Martin M., Private. Carmi. 111. -_ _ __ _ 3_4_5_^^ 

Shreve, Roy J, Private, 38b Artillery St., Detroit, Mich. . _. 3-4-i 

Shryock, Otis. Corporal. Goodyear Efficiency Department, Akron, (^hio .1-2 

Slater, Harry F., Pri\ate. 280 James St.. .Akron. Ohio ._. 3-4-5-b 

Slates. Marion L.. Corporal. Dellroy, Ohio, 3-4-5.(-, 

Smetts, Frank. Cook. Akron. Ohio. ] 

Smith. Da\id E. . Prixate, Brandenburg. Ky. 4-5-b 

Smith, L, W , Prixate, 21 Adams, Akron, Ohio |_3 

Snapp. James B.. Pri\ate. ^X) S. .Maple St., Akron. Ohio |-2 

Snow, Welton A., 1st Lieut, Ncedham. Mass. _ __ 1-2-3 4 

Spade, Glenn E., Corporal. b32 Day St.. Akron, Ohio 3-4-5.b 

Sperry, Carleton D.. Corporal. Tallmadge. Ohio 1-2-3 

Sperry, John A., Private. Tallmadge, Ohio . ^ _ 1-2-? 

Spicer, Ira C. Private. 423 Vine St . .Xkron. Ohio 3-4-5-0 

Sprigle. Harold. Private. bQ Borton .A\e.. Akron. Ohio 1-2 

Stagg, George D.. Bugler. 7b Ido A\'e.. Akron. Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Stambaugh. Merle F.. Private. 244b Winfield Way. Canton. Ohio . _ 3-4-5-b 

Stanion. Donald. Prixate. b8 N. Forge St.. Akron. Ohio . _ _ 1-2-3 

Starn, Craig R.. Private. ^Il 1 Fulton Road N, W. Canton. Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Staudt, Thurman L.. Corporal. ^^25 Rcnkert Building, Canton, Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Stevens. Ray, Private. R.F.D. No. 3. Lynnville, Ind _. I'-o 

Steinel. Wm. B,, Corporal, 482 Orchard St., Akron. Ohio 3-4-5-0 

Stilwell. Private _ __ [ 

Stone. I-'rancis J., Private. 221 W. Stein St.. St. Louis. Mo. 5-b 

Stonebarger. Joseph F. Private. Durango. Colo. _ __. 

Stouffer. V\'. L.. Chief Mech.. White .Motor Sales Co.. E. .Market St.. Akron, Ohio 1 

Sturgeon, Joseph A.. Private. 404 N. Water St.. Clinton, Ind. 5-0 

Stunmers, William H.. Private. Ottawa. Ohio __ 3-4-5_0 

Swain, Willard J.. Private. b42 East Ave.. Akron. Ohio 3-4-5-b 

Talbeet, H. A., Private, Care of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.. .Akron. Ohio ] 

Taylor. Adon H., Private. R.F.D. No. 2. Indin Springs. Ind. _ . , 5-0 

Taylor. I-'. W., Private, 3(10 W. Center St., .Akron, Ohio _ 1 

Taylor, John R,, 2nd Lieut, .Akron, Ohio __ . _._ 1-2-3-4 

Thomas. F. R.. Private. Ib51 HiILilIc Terrace. Akron. Ohio I 

Thomas, Richard J.. Private. 71 I .\. Lifth St.. Barberton. Ohio 4-5-o 

Thompson, George J.. Private. Moorhead, .Minn. 5-4 

Thompson. R. J., Private, Moorhead, Minn. _ I 

Thompson, Roland C, Corporal, bl3 E. Market St , .Akron. Ohio 1-2-3-4-5-0 

Tilton, Clyde H., Private, 25b S. 4th St.. Cuyahoga Falls. Ohio. 4-5 

Timmons, Joseph M., Private, 5 37 S. Jetferson St,, Hartford City. Ind 5-b 

Treat, Howard W., Corporal, 1800 K St.. Washington, D. C 1-2 



P(ige 16 



The Red Guidon 



Trekal, Gus,, Private, care of F. Gleason, 2123 W, 4th St., C;ie\ eland, Ohio 3-4- 

Trombley, Russell, Pri\ ate, Lake Anna Court, Barherton. Ohio. ._ 

I ruby, Loren C. Oorporal, 17t.i Maplewooci A\e., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 3-4- 

Tuttle, Thomas J,, Private, Sassar, Ky, . .. 

Tyson, Wm. H., Corporal, Ninth St N, E., Canton, Ohio 3- 

Upson, Ralph, Sergeant, 21'-~> Shawnee Path, Akron. Ohio 

Vaughn, Walter D.. Horseshoer, 4'>(l Bartges St,. Akron, Ohio 3-4- 

Vignos, Paul, C^orporal, bl 7 Shorbit St., N. W., Canton. Ohio 3- 

X'mcent, Richard, Pri\ate, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Buffalo, N. "l". 1 - 

\ rabec, Paul, Pn\ate, 322 S Broadwav , Akron, Ohio 3- 

Wagner, Albeit, Pii\ate _ ._ _ 3- 

VValker, C, L., l^nxate, % Brick St., Cuyahoga f-'alls, Ohio 1-2- 

Wallace, R. O.. Sergeant, Akron, Ohio 1-2- 

Wea\er, Marshall I, Pri\ate, .Akron, Ohio. _ _. 

Wea\er, Roy, Pri\ate, 701 Wooster Ave., Akron, Ohio , 3- 

Webster. [Daniel, Corporal, 1 70 Beck St. , Akron, Ohio 

Weeks, Charles, Supply Sergeant, 149 S, Balch St,, Akron, Ohio 

Welsh, Edward j., Private, 215 Crosby St., Akron, Ohio. . _ _ - 

Werner, Frank M . Private, 4KS Tuscarawas Ave., Barberton, Ohio 4- 

Whaple, Raymond, Pri\ate, Wallacetown, Pa _ . . 

Whistl'.r, Samuel L,, Pri\ate, care of N. O. T, & L, Terminal Bldg., Akron, Ohio 3- 

VVhitc, John, Private, 340 0th ,^\e,, Altoona, Pa 

White, Charles H., Private, R.F.D. No. lb, Williams, Ind 

White, George W., Private, 3ei2 Weeks St., Akron, Ohio 3-4- 

\\ hit lock, jdhn. Corporal, Athens, (Dhio 1- 

V\ lencr, Robert M., Pri\ate, 51 Arch St., .^kl■on, Ohio . 3-4- 

VV illiams, Harr\-, Pri\ate, 3 14 Baird Ave., Barberton, Ohio ._ 

Wise, Atlee, Corporal, 1011 W. Market St., .'\kron, Ohio 1-2-3-4 

Wise, John H.. 2nd Lieut,, 903 Harrison Ave., N. W., Canton, Ohio 1-2-3-4 

Wolcott, Clarence E., Private. P. O. Box No, 27, Newton F-'alls, Ohio 3-4 

Wood. Pearl C... Supply Sergeant, 37 N. Thiri.1 St., Columbus. Ohio 1-2 

Woodward. John H.. Sergeant, 19()4 Leavenworth St., Los Angeles, Cal 1 -2-3 

Wright. George M., Sergeant, U. S. Regular Army, Tallmadge, Ohio 



'I'orkey, Reed, Pri\ate, 88 W. Salome A\e., Akron, Ohio 
I'ork, Henry P , Sergeant, 174 Park Place, Akron, Ohio 
Youngs, Earl C, . f'orporal, 450 E. Perry St , 1 ilfin, Ohio 



^c 



Fdw; 



4 

1-2-3-4- 

._3-4- 

Prixate. 120 Bav St., Macon, Ga. 3- 



5-b 
1-2 
5-b 
..6 
4-5 
1-2 
5-b 
4-5 
2-3 
4-5 
4-5 
3-4 
3-4 
1-2 
4-5 
1-2 
1-2 
1-2 
5-b 
1-2 
4-5 
..1 
5-b 
5-b 
2-3 
5-b 
4-5 
5-b 
5-b 
5-b 
3-4 
4-5 
1-2 
5-b 
5-b 
5-b 
4-5 




TKeV/^r TKat liade Dull DurKa.rf\]an\cu3 




Explanatnry Note— Ihii' list incluLlcs onK' the olliccrs who actLulIv scr\ed with lidttcry 
B at some time hctween June ]'-'>. I^)|h, when the battery was c.illeLl out toi- lx)i\ler-sei\ lee, 
and the date of demobilization, April 10. I'-^M It eioes not ineltKle neurU (ilt\ men ol the 
batter\ who left it to beeome offkers, or who reeene^l eommissions at the ditierent trainmti- 
eamps. Their names are lej^ion: they are scattered broadcast through lut the length and breadth 
of the L^nited States Army, and the task of collecting the pictures and necessary data would 
ha\e b'cen wxll-nigh impossible. 




KAX'LiNACjH, r.ARl- ,1- Boston, Mass, Major, o2nd bield Artillery 
Brigade Enlisted in Battery B, November h', I'-^l'', and ap- 
pointed sergeant from date. .Appointed 1st sergeant December 10, 
b)|p. Commissionexl 2nd lieutenant June 15, 1917. Commis- 
sioned 1st lieutenant July 11, b^l7. Commissioned captain May 
5. l^-'tlS Commissioned major No\ember 3, I'-^IS. 

()ne of the charter members and organizers ot the battery 
and with It as sergeant, 1st sergeant, 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, 
and captain until he left for Brigaded -leadquarters, .August 2'->, 
IQ18. 

".All right now, let's get some |^ep into it and see what we can 
do." 



.ALBRECHT, HURL J. Akron. ()hio, laeutenant-Colonel. I Uth Regi- 
ment Field Artillery Commissioned captain of Ohio Field Artil- 
lery, No\ember \\ F^lv ("ommissioned lieutenant-colonel 
July 11, 1^17, 

One of the charter members antl organizers ot Battery B. and 
w.ith it as captain until he became lieutenant-colonel of the regi- 
ment, July 11, ^^17, 

"What do vou want this time, \leKec\er^" 




Page 18 



The Red Guidon 



1. 



V'inttf!1?H" i ""■ 




^ 



\ "t' 




RUSH, HAROLD M. Columbus, Ohio. Colonel, 134th Regiment Field 
Artillery. Enlisted in Company I, 6th M. A. M., 1887. Cadet at 
Cornell University from 1889 to 1891. Enlisted in Ohio National 
Guard, May 16, 1894 — Company A, 14th Infantry. Commissioned 
2nd lieutenant of Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, April 26, 1898, 
and served to October 23, 1898. Commissioned captain ot Ohio 
Field Artillery March 10, 1900. Commissioned major September 
11, 1911. Commissioned colonel May 4, 1917. 

"Pass in review. Order ot march. A, B, and C." 



SNOW, WELTON A. Needham, Mass. Captain, I >4th Regiment Field 
Artillery. Enlisted in Battery B, No\ ember 1 5, 1915. Appointed 
sergeant, February 22. 191b. Commissioned 2nd lieutenant July 
21, F^lb. Commissioned 1st lieutenant June \\ 19|7. Commis- 
sioned captain July 11, 1917. 

One of the charter members and organizers ol^ the battery and 
with it as sergeant, 2nd lieutenant, and 1st lieutenant, until he 
left to command Headquarters Company, July 11, 1 91 7. 
"^'ou will have the men fall in at once, sergeant." 





BABBFIT, JOHN F. Louisville. Ky. Captain, 1 34th Regiment Field 
Artillery. Commissioncel 2nd lieutenant in Battery B, November 
U, 19] 5. Commissioned 1st lieutenant July 22, 1916. Commis- 
sioned captain June 15, 1917, 

One of the charter members and organizers of the battery, 
and with it as 2nd lieutenant and 1st lieutenant until he left to 
become regimental-adjutant, June 15, 1917. 

"What seems to be the trouble here?" 



The lied Guidon 



Page 19 



LEAH\\ WILLIAM E. Massillon. Ohio, C'.aptain. 1 >4th Retiinicnt 
Field Artillery. EnlistCLJ in Battery B, N'o\emher ji. I'-^lv Com- 
missioned 2nd lieutenant July 11, I'^IZ. Commissioned 1st lieu- 
tenant September 15, I'^IZ, Commissioned captain No\'emher 3, 
1^5 1 8. One of the select lew who saw the game through, horn 
start to finish, with Battery B. 

Charter member and organizer of the battery, he served with 
it as private, 2nd lieutenant. 1st lieutenant, and captain, until the 
battery was demobilized, 

"That was a tres bon inspection, if I do say it myself." 





CURTIN, GEORGE D. Clarksburg, W. \a. 1st lieutenant, 134th 
Regiment FieLI Artillei\ Commissioned 2nLl lieutenant at 1st 
Officers' Training School, Atigust l\ |Q17, Commissioned 1st 
lieutenant September I, b'l7 

Assigned to the batteiA' for eltitN, March 1, b'>l>S, and with it 
until he left for dut>' with I leudquarters Company, June 5. I^^IS, 
Reassigned to the battery lor duty August 1, 1^18, and with it 
until the battery was demobilized, 

"Be quiet, the Ck-rmans are just o\er the hill," 



JOHNSTON, JOSEPH J. .Akron. Ohio. Captain, 1 34th Regiment 
Field Artillery. Commissioneel 1st lieutenant in Battery B, No\- 
ember 15, 1QI5, Commissioned captain July II, b^l7. 

One of the charter members and organizers of the battery, and 
with It as 1st lieutenant and captain until he left to comman^l 
Battery E. April b. I'-^KS, 

"The sergeants are doing all right, but the corporals will have 
to buck up." 




Pdiic 'Jll 



The Red (iiiidon 




CjRlFi-lN, BRUCE P. 
r-ield Artillery. 
Training School 
April 23, I^IS 

Assigned to Battery B April 24. 1^1 S, ant. 
n4th F. A aeroplane observer July 31, F^18 
"Id rather do this than play bridge." 



Oneonta, \ ^ 1st bieutenant, 1 34th Regiment 
CommissioncLl 2nLl lieutenant at 1st Officers' 
August l\ bM7 ("ommissioned 1st lietitenant 



i lett to become 



TA^L()R, JOHN R Akron, Ohio 1st Lietitenant, I 54th Regiment 
I'leld Artiller\' C "()mmist,ioneLl 2nLl lieutenant No\ember \\ F'tlS. 
Commissioned 1st lieutenant June II, I'-"'I7 Ser\ed with the 
battery as 2nd lieutenant and 1st lietitenant until he lelt lor duty 
with Battery I\ September h", |0|7. 
'Bring that caisson tip here. " 



Nh'ERS, HOWARD E. New ^ork City. Ist Lieutenant, 1 34th Regi- 
ment lield Artillery, Commissioned 2nd lieutenant at Officers' 



Training School. Saumur, I-"ranee. )ul\ 27, 
1st lieutenant No\ember 3, L^LS, 

Assigned to the batters Atigust \ L'lS, 
battery was demobilized, 
"t iunners to me, " 



l^^liS Commissioned 
antl with It until the 




The l\('(l (iuidoii 



Pane ?/ 



HATCH, ROBERT C, Lorcna, Texas 2nJ Lieutenant. 134th Regiment 
f^ield ArtilleiN C'ommissioneel 2nd liLUtenant at Thirel Officers' 
Trainint; School, Ma\ 13, I'^hS Assigned to the battei\' for duty, 
January 23. IQjO and with it until the hattcry was dcmohilizcLl 
' 1 hey grow lie-mcn where 1 come from, ' 




CjRE'I', FRANK W jack-onx ille. Me. ist Lieutenant, 1 ?4th Regiment 
Field Artillery C^mimissioned 2nd lieutenant at Third Officers' 
Training School, Camp De\ens, .Mass, Commissioned 1st lieu- 
tenant \'o\ ember 3, jOLS. 

Assigned to the Batter\ for elut\ September 2h, L^LS, anel 
with It until transferred to Batter\ I" lor dutx October 2(i. I'-'>I.S. 
'Peahson, wheahs my gas-mask!" 




WTSF. JOLIN H Canton. C^hi^ 



2nel Lieutenant. 1 Uth f-legiment 



r-ield Artiller\ tinlistcd as pri\ ate in Batter\ B). June LI L'lO 
Appointed corporal May 1<S. 1017 Appointed sergeant May 2i. 
L^il/" Commissioned 2nd lieutenant )ul\ 11, 1^17 

With the battery from June LL LMo. as prnatc. corporal, 
sergeant and 2nd lieutenant until he left to attend Aerial .School at 
Tours. France. Augeist 10 101 N Reassigned to the battery 
from 24th Aerial Squadron, Lebruar^ IV |0|ei ..nd with it until 
the battery was demobilizeel 

"E\eryone of \ou is headed lor u labor batt.ilion " 



Page T2 



The Red (iiiidon 



MOORE, LEE E. Cincinnati. Ohio 
Field Artillery. Commissioned 
Training School, May 13. 1^18. 
May 14. 1Q18, and with it unti 
Company, October 2, 1^18. 

"What it takes to ride that horse 



2nd Lieutenant, 134th Regiment 

2nd lieutenant at Third Officers' 

Assigned to the battery for duty 

he left for duty with the Supply 



ve got. 




GREENE. FREDERICK H, Spencer, Ind. 1st Sergeant, 134th Regi- 
ment Field Artillery, Enlisted in Battery B as private, June 21, 
F^lO, Appointed corporal May 20, 1QI7. Appointed sergeant 
June 2. \^\7 . Appointed 1st sergeant September 24, 1917. 

With the battery from June 21, 1Q16, until the battery was 
demobilized. One year and a half of this time he was the "top- 
soak;" he was ne\er an officer, but he should have been, and could 
have been, had he wanted to. He preferred to stay with the 
battery — so we put him here. 

"Outside, vou birds. Come a-running." 



^ 



KAICHEN. TRO^'. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1st Lieutenant, 1 34th Regiment 
Field Artillery. Commissioned 1st lieutenant at 1st Officers' 
Training School. August 1\ 1^17. Assigned to the battery Jan- 
uary 20, 1918, and with it until he left for duty with Head- 
cjuarters Company, June 15, 1918. 

"Remember to hold your breath while putting on the mask." 




OBITUARY 

CAPTAIN HARR^- II HEDGRS 
Enlisted as a prixate in B Battery on Ncn ember 15, 
l^h'. Saw border serviee as a sergeant. Discharged 
from the serviee April II, IQIZ. Commissioned 1st 
lieutenant in Headquarters C^ompany July II, 1Q|7. 
Commissioned captain April 3, |Q|8, and in command 
of Headquartei-s Company from April lixl till appointed 
acting regimental adjutant September h', l^KS. Taken 
sick at Laimont. I-rance. October 3, 10|,s. and died in 
E\acuation Hospital No. loat Re\ igny, [- ranee, October 
lb, UTIS. Cause of death gi\en as plural pneumonia. 
"A/()/7 Pour La Pallia." 



RA^MO.XD P. ECK 
Enlisted in Headquarters Company, 134th Field Artil- 
lery, jtily 2 3, |Q|7. With Headquarters Company at 
Siher Lake and Camp Sheridan until transferred to 
B Battery early in Ma\-, 10|8. 1^-ansferred from Bat- 
tery B to Camp Jackson June 8, 1018. Assigned to 
eighty-first dixision, 324th Infantry, in July, 1^18, and 
went o\erseas with that unit. Killed in action during 
the Meuse-Argonne offensi\e near .... Buried at 



"Mart Pour La Patna.' 



THE RED GUIDON ASSOCIATION 

/\n .Ai^preciation hy Ourselves 

"DOWN IN THE SLIBWA^' LINDER 'IHE GRDEND" 

{■St'L'ction from an aid batlery st/ni;) 



A^ZHEN the battery lay in the cellars of Eaimont 
* * just helore going into the Marbachc front, there 
was organizci:!, merely in a spirit of good fellowship, a 
little club which was real I \ responsible for the existence 
of this publication, 

A little old ruin across from the Epicerie became the 
lu,\urious lodgings of Kelly, Ritter, I-unk, Shere, White, 
b\ichs, "Bill" Murph\- and Hirleman. It was really not 
much to look at, in fact it was known only to the officers 
and the "lop" as the most diflicult cellar to find when 
the\ wanted to call out a detail But it was dr\ and wc 
built a fireplace — which worked wonderftilly when the 
wind was honi the south, and Kelly terraced the debris 
in one cornel' to make a good solid loundation lor his 
bunk. 




Here m this "Abn Parlait ' one e\ ening alter a repast 
ol cheese, bread (puiloincLl Irom the kitchen) and \ m 
hlanc, the "Hams Cdub ' was organized Eligibilit\' for 
membership required a certain degree ol "hamness of 
profession. Kelly being known as the "ham newspaper 
man; \\ hite was called the "Ham I3o.\er;" Ritter 1 Link 
and faichs were "Ham Artists;" Shere was Llublxxl rather 
hesitatingly, the "Ham C^ambler." and Muiph\ , than 
whom there were none "hamer ' was cited as the "Ham 
tenor (adenoid). 

So it was. In strange ways, man\ things ha\e their 
beginning and the Red Caudon is numbered not among 
the least of them 

Someone proposed that a little ten or twehe page 
pamphlet be written and published tipon our return to 
the States, a souvenir to be gi\en to a few friends.— possi- 
bl\' print a hundred copies, w hich wouldn't cost us so much. 

Lentil we arrned at rest billets in the woods at C"amp 
Quest, the Hams Club became almost a memory onl\' 
There, one evening, interest was re\ i\ed, I hompson. 
Batisman, Eaulkner and Eckert were elected to member- 



ship. More complete plans were formed, and e\en some 
assignments were gixen. Bill Murphy was to make a 
collection of tunny stories and elc\er sayings of army life. 
That was the first meeting in w hich anything definite was 
done towards making the book an actualit\'. We dreamed 
dreams. 

Eea\ ing Camp ( )uest for the front, the "book" was 
again temporarih put upon the shelf. Not until after 
the signing of the armistice did we do anything further. 
Although Murphy (it is alleged) ne\er neglected to jot 
down some cle\er remark, e\en during a barrage, he 
never hesitated to lay down a shell in order to make a 
note. (Such loyalty to an ideal deserves great apprecia- 
tion — read his stuff in the Guidon.) 

The battery moved back to the "Hill" abo\e Ram- 
bluzin. before they found places to make their bunks, 
Kelly and Ritter were searching for a shack to house the 
editorial ofiices (note the pkiral ) Giving the captain a 
good "line" they secured permission to use the little 
seven b\' nine tar-|^aper shack opposite the ofiicers' 
quarters I hey tokl him that it was the intention to 
ptiblish an illustrated historv' of the battery, which at the 
time wasn t e.xaeth' trtie. The vivid word picture, which 
was painted out of ptire imagination, proved convincing, 
how ev er. 

Impressive furniture and elaborate decorations were 
installed during the ^lay, anc^ that evening the first 
real meeting ot the editorial staff was held. The imagina- 
tion of Kelly and Ritter had formulated an idea which 
unconsciously had been budding in our minds. The 
Hams Club lormallv adopted "The Red tjuidon." upon 
which name thev finally decided after much heated dis- 
cussion. In this manner was our brain-child conceived, 
joe Kelly was elected editor-in-chief ; Thompson. 
Bausman, Murphy, and Eckert were to write copy; 
Martin Shere and Art Faulkner became treasurer anc4 

business manager, respect- 
ivelv; Ritter was art director, 
with Eunk and Fuchs on the 
art staff; George White 
honored us in the capacity of 
sporting editor; and Bill 
Summers received the title of 
Official Photographer, ably 
assisted by Norman H, Fuchs. 
Eater, Joe Schnitzler became 
first assistant Business Man- 
ager, and opened our branch 
office m the business section 
of Camp Du CTianois. All was 
as merry as a wedding bell in June. 




llw lU'd (iiiiddii 



P(t<) 



(' :.) 



The next cla\- the work stiiiteel m earnest lummy 
began his "11 — 11-11" st(>r\, un^l i-littei- made peneil 
sketches, for its illustration in oil, Kelly was kept busy 
trying to curb the exuberant anel extravagant spirits of 
the copy-writers. "Boil it elown' Boil it clown' 
quoth our noble chief, none too gentK. It became a 
watchword among the staff. Bill wotikl submit about 
three thousand words anel be tokl to "cut it down to 
about two hundrcel and use a lot ol names, all the names 
you can think of ' We were fortunate in having so 
capable a man for our chiel I ka\en only knows what 
amateurish cop\' might ha\e iDuntl its way into these 
pages. 

Night after night founel the staff working in the 
ridiculously small office, crowelcel elbuw to elbow, feet 
sinking into the mud of the lloor, and straining their eyes 
by the candle-light and the wood-smoke from the stove, 
which was alwa\s too hot or too cold. Oh, those were 
the days! 

Thanksgiving Day was celebrated b\' the building of 
a three-foot addition onto one end of the shack, giving us 
room for the typewriter which Captain Hollenbeck, 
kindly loaned us. So, against all army traditions, we 
desecrated the Holiday, but finished in time to do 
justice to Curry's dinner (this is no joke.) 

riie impetus gi\en by the enlarged space in the 
sanctum sanctorum caused KJeas to accumulate so 
rapidly that we lacked the time m which to execute them 
(Some of them should have been executed wc admit.) 
It was considered ad\ isable to try to he released from 
drill. (Against our wishes, of course, but we were 
altruists in those days.) The officers were backing us 
and boosting the book, so we were gi\en that permission, 
although arguments with section-chiefs ne\er became 
infrequent, F^robably the greater part of our work was 
accomplished between that time and Christmas. 

Howe\er. about a week beloie ( "hristmas, our at- 
tention was elixerted and our ellorts (.lirecteel ahmg a 
different channel. One elay the captain came down to 
the office to ask otir help in mal- ing Christmas f^ay 
more enjoyable than the average elav' on the "Hill " 
It was suggested that we organize an entertainment t)f 
some sort, and of course, we Linanin:otis|y \oted for it. 11 
the tjuielon staff likcel an\ thing better than an enter- 
tainment. It was an- 
other one. 

bor seven elays, 
ani.1 nights we workcel, 
writing, rehearsing 
anel costuming the 
acts, the scenery was 
painted and a stage 
was erected and wired 
for lights in the little 




uIlI " Iheater Comique" in the abandoneel hospital 
at the foot of the "Hill ' It was a good show and 
\oLi enjoved it. So did we. 

The little office across from the officer's billet ^lied a 
glorious anel heroic death when the stall celebrated after 
the show that night Do you remember when 
(name deleted) broke the door from its hinges'" .And how 
Sidney's chocolate cake found its true vocation as a 
eleeorative meditim' One vvonelerful night' 

Like Phoenix rising from the ashes, a new office was 
erected uneler the corrugated iron roof of one ol the 
stables, next door to our local "^' " ( i) 

About this time Tommy anel Bausman deserted us 
lor the greater excitement of going on the road with the 
regimental show Ihis etit down our writing loree, btit, 
though a considerable handicap, elid not catise tis to 
elespair. 

Things continLied to run smemthlv. m spite ol the 
Lliffieultv' in obtaining wood for the fire. We were forced 
to beg, borrow, or steal candles from Polling or Curry. 
(Occasionally it became necessary to go A W. O 1,, to 
Bar le Due for supplies, ink, paper, pencils anel other 
articles which we neeelcel in our business. 

After we left the "I lill" on the last leg of our journey 
towarel home, we eliel vet >■ little tmtil we were back in 
"civvies, ' in fact, we believed that our work hael been 
practicallv' eompleteel 

We found out that the biggest job of all vet lemameel. 
Editing, coherent anel logical arrangement, collection ol 
photographs, rewriting and correcting, new stories to 
write, making up the "dummv, " selling new subscriptions, 
all work, harel work anel little time to do it in We wish 
to give Bausman credit for finishing the historv anel a 
number of short stories, after our return. Ritter put in 
a lot ol time collecting anel arranging photographs 
Harrv' Rhoaels, who was with the Flattery on the boreler, 
became a member of the staff and provcel himsell to be 
practicallv invaluable m the matter of technical aelvice, 
Harry also contributeel some clever art-work, ol which 
our [:x Libris is a notable example. 

We have given vi>u a good book, and a beautiful book, 
one which vou will treasure so long as voti live We 
regret that it diei not come out scjoner, but we did our 
darndest. aiiLl we appreciate your backing, at first m 
r^rance and then in the States. 

^'es. It's a gootl book, but then. \ou deserve a goiKl 
book, all vou fellows of 15 Battery. In the years to come 
It will be the onlv link to take us back, back to those 
gooel okl elavs when we hiked together along the roaels ol 
America, anel of Irance, with equipment "(" on our 
backs, and .'■omeone (yoti know who we mean) m the line 
of file closer ciuinting "l-2-?-4 — 1-2-^-4 get in btep there 
1-2-3-4 -1-2-.' 

Bon Nuit. 




Camp wmis 



B Battery History 



CHAPTER I 

IN the late summer of l'-"'l'> when the possibilities of 
United States e\er entering the hostilities in Europe 
were being scoffed at by everyone but the prospect of 
trouble with Mexico or Japan were cause for much com- 
ment — then came the big idea, to a group of progressive 
members of the Unixersity Club of Akron. The nation 
was entirely unprepared for any emergency that called 
for an army of o\er 500.000 men, and surely in either 
case, Mexico or Japan, such an emergency would be at 
hand and then there was the affair in Europe to be con- 
sidered, for no one had been able at that time to deter- 
mine just where that would lead, before it was finished. 
Akron was no exception to the rule of the nation, for 
although she had three companies in the National Guard, 
it was considered by those interested in the progress of 
the cit>- that from her population of o\er 75,000 Akron 
should have a larger representation in the American army, 
or at least in reserve. 

After man\- little parleys ani.1 impromptu meetings 
at the club, it was found that there was enough interest 
taken in the matter at that time to justify seriotis con- 
sideration of another organization in Akron. On the 
evening of August 23n.l. 1^15, a meeting was called for 
all those members ot the L'nixersity Club who were in- 
terested in the proposition of forming a military organ- 
ization. Eighty members were present, among them 
ex-army men anel many of the prominent business men 
of the city. 

J. J. Johnston was appointed temporary chairman for 
this meeting for his had been a great part in the culmin- 
ation of the gathering, f". A. Seiberling and H. J. Al- 
brecht spoke, and as citizens and business men of Akron 
promised their loyal support of anything that would 
assist in the organization of a military company. At the 
suggestion of Mr. Johnston, it was unanimously Llecided 
that the organization be a battery of light field artillery, 
this branch ol the scr\icc being especially attractive 
because of the mathematical problems it inx'oK'ed. A pe- 
tition was drawn up and tweh'e copies of it made, to be 
sent to the rubber factories for recruiting desirable men 
for the project. It was expected at that time to be 
organized by Labor Day, that year, and after calling a 
meeting for the following Tuesday, August 30th, the first 
meeting was adjourned. 

The next week was marked by the editorial comment 
in one of the Akron newspapers which called the new- 
organization a social military organization to enable 
millionaires' sons to wear a uniform. This was hastily 
denied, in the following e\ening's paper, and the assertion 
that only millionaires' sons were eligible to join the as- 
sociation was pro\en untrue by the petitions then going 
through the Akron rubber factories, asking for recruits 
from all ranks. True, there were se\eral very prominent 
men and their sons interested in the affair, but it was 



patriotism and not selfish pride that caused the interest. 
The story prublished claiming the contrary was soon 
branded a lie. 

The meeting of August 30th was held in the court 
hotise in order to accommodate all the newly acquired 
recruits who attended. The proposition of an armory 
for the new battery was taken up and the plans for a 
buikling costing approximately $12,000 were shown. 
Chairman Johnston, in speaking of the prospects of the 
battery ga\e the ways and means of a Battery Associa- 
tion such as was organized that exening. Among other 
things he suggested an annual ball as a lucrative enter- 
prise for the organization, but as he said, "It will be no 
'pink tea' affair, and we must not lose sight ol the fact 
that we are a military outfit " 

Colonel Wright, a veteran of the Spanish-American 
War. spoke at this meeting congratulating the men on 
their organization and enlightening them on a few points 
of militarism. A battery of field artillery would never be 
called out on strike duty or any industrial troubles, but 
although they might ne\er be called for any purpose it 
was well to be prepared. A charter committee was ap- 
pointed at this meeting and Mr. Johnston left the tem- 
porary chair of the meeting to assume the chairmanship 
of this committee. With Johnston on the charter com- 
mittee were Claire Ault, I. Redtlick. W. f^unn, and 
W. Doyle. Another meeting in the court house was 
called for September 8th and the second meeting of the 
Battery Association was adjourned. 

Mr. H. ). Albrecht acted as chairman at the next 
meeting ol the association, when it was decided that it 
was necessary to send representatives to Columbus to 
inter\iew Go\ernor Willis regarding a charter and equip- 
ment for the new battery. A letter was read from 
General Johnson, of the National Defence Boaixl, in which 
he complimented the Akron men on "making an effort 
in the right elirection," for he said, "artillery is badly 
needed in the American army in \ iew of current e\enls 
in brance " I he charter committee was authorized to 
make the trip to Cokimbus regarding the equipment for 
the battery anel another meeting of the .Akron Battery 
Association was adjourned. I he organization was fast 
becoming a military one and the 170 men who w,'ere now 
enrolled on its roster were all anxious to get at some real 
weapons. 

On the c\ening ot September 1 3th an important 
meeting was hekl, LJuring which permanent officers were 
nominatCLl, reports w,ere heard from two important com- 
mittees; John F. Babbitt, chairman of the building 
committee, reported unfa\orably on the proposed $12,000 
armory in view,- of the fact that the armory then under 
contract for the infantry companies of Akron called for 
an expenditure of almost $200,000, and that a $12,000 
building would be out of place beside it. New plans 
were asked for and George Ball and George Renner, 



The Red (iiiidon 



PiUjC W 



architects and members ol the Battery Association, were 
asked to present them at the next meeting. 

Chairman Joe Johnston of the charter committee, 
then reported the accomplishments of that committee in 
Columbus. Alter interviews with .\dj. General Hough, 
Go\ernor Willis, and Major H M. Bush of the Ohio 
Field Artillery, in which the abilit\ ol Akron to support 
another military organization was proven, the matter of 
getting the charter was only a question of a few days 
Harrv Quine and Captain Werner, a Spanish-.American 
War veteran, both spoke to the men urging them to 
ha\e patience and not to lose interest in the association 
w hich w.as soon to ha\'e its charter. 

With the assurance ot a charter, it became necessary 
to nominate oflkers. and so at the meeting of October 
4th, nominations were received for a president, a treas- 
urer, a secretary, and a boarc^ ot directors. Great interest 
was shown in the proposal made by Geo. Ball and Geo. 
Renner for an armory to cost in the neighborhood of 
$25,000. They presented plans for the building and the 
other plans under consideration were discarded in their 
fa\or. j. F. Seiberling said in a speech at the meeting, 
that the $2\()00 could be easily obtained in Akron, and 
that $5,000 of It was already in the bank to the asso- 
ciation's credit. Property for the erection of the building 
had been donated by F. A. Seiberling in the \icinity 
of Blue Pond, and looked as though the battery armors 
was to be a reality at last. 

The Goodyear Rubber Co., through its representative 
member, Ralph L'pson, offered a scouting balloon for the 
use of the batters' when the other material armed. A 
signal corps was organized that evening to make a thor- 
ough study ot methods used in scouting and signal work 
in the artillery, thus preparing them in advance tor the 
work they were to do later on. Nineteen men were 
chosen for this work under the i.lirection of Ralph Upson, 
Harry Hosbeck, and R. A. 1 . Preston, all experienced 
men in some line ol signal work. 

At the election of officers for the association on the 
evening of October 18th, H, j, Albrecht was elected Presi- 
dent; George Kryder, Secretary; j. V . Seiberling, Treas- 
urer; and Dow Harter, Jerry Holmes, O. D. Hollenbeck, 
John Reddick and Claire Ault, tlirectors. L. D. l\ing, 
E. Welsh. Claire Ault and 1. 1-. barr were appointed as 
a committee on publieits'. to keep up interest in the or- 
ganization. 

Judge ,Anderson ot Akiun made a stirring speech to 
the men urging preparedness to the "Xth " degree. This 
was shortly after the sinking of the '.Xncona' and two 
other American ships b>' the German submarines, and the 
Judge predicted such things leading to a war in the course 
ot two years "It can not he a\oKleLl," the speaker 
claimed, and who is there to Lleny him now "' 

ComniLinication was received by Pies Albrecht from 
Ai-lj, Gen Hough on ( Vtober "iOth, assuiing the associa- 
tion ol the materiel lor the equipment for a battery 



I he guns caissons and wagons ha^l been oixleixvl, and 
Would arrive m .Akron in about two weeks I his ;in- 
noLincement instilled new life into the organization, an^l 
at the ne.xt meeting on November 12th. almost all the 
members were present 

It was announced at this meeting, which was held in 
Judge Fritch's court-room at the court house, Friday 
evening, that on the following Monday, November 15th, 
the Battery Association would cease to e.xist. and that in 
Its place would be an organization known as V> flattery of 
the Iirst Ohio Field Artillery The officials necessary for 
the mtistering in of troops woukl be present and all men 
were to report at b DO P. M, to the Central High School 
gymnasitim lor physical examination. Prospective officers 
were lineal up and practicalh' every man was assigned his 
i-luties before he was miisterei.1 into the service 

On the morning of November I 5th, live carloads of 
eqtiipment arrived in the railroad \ards for the batterv' 
Ciuns, caissons, and commissary wagons, v\ere all unloaded 
and taken to the old gas house on South Howard Street, 
w hich was to be the temporary armory for the batters'. 

1 hat evening the gvmnasium at the Central High 
School was a very busy place. About 110 men were 
present for examination, and the work of putting them 
throLigh was begtm at 00 o clock sharp. Dr. F. E. 
Brown, of the 8th Ohio Infantry Medical Corps, was in 
charge of this first examination He was ably assisted 
by Drs. F W and H W Barton. C. C Pmkerton. J, C 
Chase an^l O li. Banker, of Akron. It was a vers cokl 
night, and the business of running around without anv 
clothes on in that gymnasium was not the most exciting 
thing to the nien 

In the mustering m process. Major Bush, who pre- 
sided, was assisted b\' Captain Kulich, Captain .\ ludge 
and Fieutenant li O Williams, all from Battery A of 
the I'irst Ohio b'leld Artillery. After the physical exam- 
ination, 104 men reported to this committee to be mus- 
tered in. four of the men having fallen down on the 
eyesight test. 1 he otlicers chosen by the associatKjn all 
passed the examinations given by Major Bush \\.}^ 
Albrecht became Captain Albrecht. J. J. Johnston was 
1st lieutenant, P. W Caldwell. 1st lieutenant, an^l \. A, 
Babbitt and J. R Taylor. 2nd lieutenants, ('harles 
Fange, an ex-army man who hatl been m the service 
twelve vears, was appointCLl first sergeant 

.Major Irtish matle a verv complimentary speech on 
the personnel of B Batterv' He said that such an ex- 
ceptionallv' tit lot of men was seklom loun^l in the first 
attempt to muster an organizatic^n. hie spoke at some 
length on the requirements and discipline required from 
a member of his battalion, but when he nxddc that 
memorable assertion regarding the importance of a man 
in the army, most of the fellows began to realize for the 
first time that life m the army was not to be a "bed ol 
roses." "The first eonsiLL-ration shc.iuld alwav's be the 
horses, he said, "the Seconal, the guns and last and least. 



The Red Guidon 



Piuje 31 



the men." The Major claime^l that men could he re- 
placed much easier than either horses or guns, especial- 
ly in time of war, and any A. E. F. man w ill now uphold 
that statement as a fact. 

The first drill was helel in the same g\mnasium. with 
about 50 men present, on the e\ening of Sunday, No- 
vember 21st. Squad formations were gone through and 
the rudiments of foot drill instilled into the eager artil- 
lerymen. Those present were measured for uniforms, 
which were to be delivered at an early date. Everyone 
was anxious to get at the field pieces that were down at 
the gas-house, but the weather was too cold to permit 
any outside drill. It was decided to have foot drill 
e\'ery Sunday evening throughout the winter months, 
just to keep the men in shape for the work expected the 
coming summer. 

CHAPTER II 

THE newspapers of June 18th were full of war talk, 
this day being Saturday, Akron was all astir with e.x- 
citement; in the crowded streets it was the one topic of 
conversation. Congress had officially declared a state of 
war existing between L'nited States and Mexico, and 
the National Guard was to be called out. mobilized, and 
rushed to the border at once. I he officers of Akron's 
battery waited expectantly for the call that would bring 
their outfit into active ser\ice, and the men. too. were 
watching the extra editions that were being sold by all 
the local newspapers that day. 

The following e\ening, that memorable date. June K'th 
I^Mb, the order finally arrived in the form of a telegram 
to Captain Albreeht. B Battery was called out! It 
was about t> 00 P. M. when the order was recei\eei. and 
immediately the telephone lines began to hum, and the 
bells tinkling in many Akron homes announced the 
arrival of the expected news. Telegrams were sent to 
the members who were out of town and the message was 
always the same, "Report to the Captain at the armory 
at once." Captain Albreeht made a hurried trip to the 
L'ni\ersity Club, and, lor the first time using his au- 
thority and rank, ordered the batterymen he found 
sitting on the porch "to the armory at once." 

That night the men stood their first guard o\er the 
materiel at the gas-house, the officers each taking one 
relief. It was a strangely excited group that collected on 
South Howarci Street that evening and talked o\er the 
probable outcome of the call. "It spoiled my whole 
evening." "Gee! the old man was tickled to death when 
I told him," and such ccjmments were heard on all sides. 
One member, somew.hat less e.xcited than the others, 
stepped up to "Chief" Lange, an old timer at this game, 
and asked, "What are the average fatalities in artillery. 
Chief" His only answer was a sympathetic grin that 
caused him to think the more seriously. 

It was founi.1 that 00 men were needed to fill the 
ranks of the battery to lull war strength, so a call for 



volunteers was issued the next morning, and by noon 
Dr. E W. Barton had become Lieutenant Barton, and 
was busily examining applicants. Stock was taken of 
the available uniforms and they were issued as fast as 
the men could be fitted. The old members were still 
reporting in their uniforms, and in a short time the old 
gas-house assumed the appearance of a real army camp. 
Howard Bowman reported on his motorcycle, and both 
"Hub ' and his machine were pressed into service, and 
the motorcycle was seen chugging through the streets 
of Akron all day. ' _ -- 

The officers reported — Senior First Lieutenant L J- 
Johnston, Junior First Lieutenant Caldwell, Senior Sec- 
ond Lieutenant J. F. Babbitt, and Junior Seconal Lieu- 
tenant John R. Taylor. They took hold with Captain 
Albreeht, and things began to assume a military aspect. 
Among the first men to enlist on June F'tth were Alton 
V. Ritter, Dorsey Gates, Fred Clark, F'red Robinson, 
Henry Maiden, Ford Barrett, John Paul Jones, Joseph 
Schnitzler and Harry Blackwood. 

June 21st saw the morning papers aflame with war 
talk. I he National Guard was to be mobilized im- 
mediately on a war footing. It was expected it would 
be rushed to the border at once. This day marked the 
opening of recruiting in earnest. All day long men be- 
gan flocking into the armory; crowds of war fans and 
friends of the men stood around the gas-house. This 
was the cause of the first 24-hour guard, which consisted 
of three posts in and around the place. A long time later 
Captain Hollenbeck (he was a corporal then) made the 
remark that this first guard was the best the battery 
ever conducted, adding that it conlormed more nearly to 
the Manual of Interior Guard Dut\-. Lhe first war- 
time formation came on June 21st. for the battery stood 
the first retreat that evening. 

Then came a waiting period of two weeks; an anxious 
two weeks kor every man while the battery awaited 
moving orders. More recruits kept drifting in daily, 
until finally the recruiting stopped. A regular drill 
schedule came out; beginners were given "Right Lace!" 
"Left Face'" and "Squads Right!" Harvey Hitchcock 
will probably remember this part of his army career 
because he could not teach Raymond Kluge to keep 
step. Acivanced classes were put on the guns and taught 
how to mount, how to dismount, and how to do it all 
over again. Would-be special detail men semaphored to 
each other from the gas-house roof to the top of the hills 
and learned how to send and receive messages. 

Only the men who lIilI not live in .^kron stayed at the 
gas-house; some of them slept inside, and some of them 
got their first experience sleeping in pup-tents. [3ox 
lunches were serveel to the whole crowel at noon, anel it 
was here that Carleton Sperry, Homer Davis, Bill Loltz 
and others, organized the first battery glee club. In the 
evening those w hcj didn't want to, or couldn't go home to 
tlinner, were taken to the Ohio Cafeteria in the Ohio 



The Red Guidon 



Page 33 



Building, where they were allowed to sttilf themseKes 
to the extent of forty cents worth [i\ery day moving 
orders were expected, and every day proved a disap- 
pointment. 

On Sunday morning, June 25th, services were held by 
Rex .Franklyn Cole Sherman, of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. 
It was a rainy morning htit not so wet as to cause an\' 
noticeable decrease in attendance. Everyone was sure 
that this would be the last Sunday in Akron; a sort of 
farewell dinner was tendered by the Howe Hotel to the 
men who did not live in Akron, and Ed. Romily presided. 
Speeches were made, and it certainly was a good dinner. 
The next week was a repetition of the lormer one; the 
Mexican situation was growing less acute, and there was 
no word from Columbus. Were they going or was it to 
prove a grani.1 fizzle'' In the meantime there was a 
ceremony in the shape of a flag presentation; Louis 
Isenman, Carl Schrank, Fred Seiberling, and Fred Exner 
were presented with silk American flags, the gift of Attor- 
ney C. W. Seibert and the St Paul's Episcopal Church. 

One night. Just belbre dusk, the Goodyear balloon 
made its initial flight. Sergeant Ralph Upson was the 
pilot and he carried Lieutenants Johnston and Babbitt 
as passengers. \\ ith the exception of the lact Chief 
Mechanic W. L. Stauffer, Charles Lange, and a few 
others, who were supposed to follow in a machine, got 
lost, it was a good flight. The balloon came elown 
once, there was some trouble with the ballast. anLl 
Lieutenant Johnston got out; but it went up again anel 
finalK- came down near \lei.lina 

There was a banquet at the \ alley View (^.ountry 
Club on JuK 1st for all Firestone men, and the lucky 
ones who attenekxl came back with the report that "a 
good time was had by all.'" And July 3rd was the 
real big day, for that morning a messenger hustled into 
Captain Albrecht's oflice with a telegram, live minutes 
later he had the battery lined up, — moving oixlers had 
arrived. The battery was to entrain for Columbus, 
Ohio, the next morning. 

The men were dismissed for the day with orders to 
get ready to leave. Then there was a lot of hurry ani.1 
bustle, business of packing up, loading of boxes and 
equipment, and all personal belongings attended to. All 
the farewells and goodbyes were said and that night the 
Horn Stock Co. gave free tickets for the evening per- 
formance to all the batterymen. It was a military play 
and the battery turned out in force. 

Six o'clock on the morning of July 4th, anel the bat- 
tery had its last view of the gas-house. I he humorous 
element came into the situation when the men who cliJ 
not have uniforms appeared in the battery column 
1 he substitute for uniforms was blue-denim fatigue 
suits, and the overalls didn't fit anv' too well. 1 here 
were about forty men outfitted thus, and it is a safe bet 
that there is not one of them who will ever forget it' 
The battery lined up on N. Howard Street, just outside 



the gas-house, "Squads Right' " was given, anel the march 
to the station began, O. D, and Blue Denim! Li Bat- 
terv', Ohio Lield Artillery — letl by [Buckley Post Fife and 
Drum Corps of the G. A. R. An^l they were off! 

I here was an enormous crowxl at L'nion Station; 
going down the incline from E. Market Street the battery 
walked between solid lines of people There was a mass 
of packed htimanity on the bridge; mothers, sweethearts, 
relatives, friends, well-wishers. How many of you who 
were there that day realized the time that was to elapse 
before the battery came back^ 1 low many of vou bat- 
terymen realized as you steppetl nn that train, the time 
you were to spend in the army or how long it would be 
before you donned civilian clothes again'' ^ ou enlisted 
for three years active service' /\s the Life anLl Drum 
Corps led you up East Market Street did any of you 
think that you would come very close to serving it'' Or 
that the playful little war with .Mexico was only a begin- 
ner, and that the real war cIoulIs, ominous, black and 
threatening, were hovering far in the back ground!" A 
whistle tooted— a bell clanged — a few last goodbyes were 
said — and the battery was off on the "Big Adventure." 

The train left .'\kron at 7 A. j\ 1 , and at 12 o'clock 
noon It pulleel into Columbus, wheie the battery de- 
trained in L'nion Station with the exception of a few 
men detailed to go with the materiel out to the Camp 
Willis siding. .Mter a short halt in Cjoodale Park. Colum- 
bus, waiting for flattery A to arrive from Cleveland, a 
tlustv hike of five miles to Camp Willis, Ohio, was be- 
gtin and for the first time the lx)ys trudged over a 
roatl to the tune of : 

"Ohio — Ohio! The hills senel down the cry — " 

CHAPTER III 

THE arrival at Camp Willis was at 5 P, M. It was a 
tired bunch, but there was lots of work to be done. 
The materiel hael to be brought from the siding, tents 
pitched and some kind of a battery street laid out, and 
all there was for supper was bacon sandwiches and 
black coffee. 1 ruly it was a hard life, the first night out. 
That was the life' Perhaps, everything considered, 
that was the hardest period of the outfit's whole career, 
that first two or three weeks in Camp Willis. Everything 
was new. and everybody, from the captain down, were 
more or less "rookies " The men tlidn't know how to 
make themselves comfortable, and half the time they 
were too tired to try; you must consider the fact that 
these men had Just come from civil life, an^l all the ease 
and luxury that goes with it. '1 here was no one to tell 
them the little things that helped make things com- 
fortable, because ncj one knew' Equipment was slow in 
coming. Everybody expected to throw awav' their blue 
denim as soon as they struck Camp Willis. :\s it was, 
blue denim was the popular drill costume for over a 
nnjnth, when some uniforms came in. There weren't 
enough pyramidal tents; the first distribution to the Ohio 



P(ige S'f 



The Red Guidon 



battalion ga\-e B Battery five, and the rest of the hoys 
slept in pup-tents. The most pathetic part of all this 
was that e\en the cooks were new Robert Guinther was 
the first Mess Sergeant, and hrank Smetts and William 
Murray the first cooks. They had had a little experience 
in cooking, what they didn't ha\e was the \ast knowledge 
that comes with the working of a field range, and that 
must be acquired betore army-slum becomes edible 

'I'hat first meal of baked beans that was ser\ed lor 
instance, nobody will e\er deny that they were baked — 
the only trouble was that the>- hadn't been soaked' They 
rattled in a mess pan like hail on a tin roof; they were 
harder than buckshot, twice as large, and R. S. Wallace 
broke a tooth. To their exerlasting credit be it said 
that the cook's recruit days were o\er much sooner than 
the battery's, and they were turning out good meals 
long before the rest of the boys had finished learning 
how to ride. 

A lew days after the arrixal in Camp Willis, work 
started in earnest, the real work of making o\er a bunch 
of recruits into a linisheLl battery of field artillery t)ne 
of the biggest instruments toward this end was the work 
done by Sergeant Gale, detailcLl to the t^hio Battalion 
Irom the regular army He was an old, old timer and 
what he didn't know about artillery drill was either ob- 
solete or hadn't been printetl yet A whole lot of the 
credit lor the amount learne^l in those early t.lays should 
go to him I he section chiefs who first lined up the 
men kit his instruction were Sergeant W. A. Snow with 
the first section. Sergeant Carl Kaxenagh with the 
second section; Sergeant George Wright with the third; 
Sergeant O. D Hollenbeck with the fourth. Sergeant 
Ralph LIpson, the filth; and Sergeant John Sampse\- 
the sixth. Arthur) Saalfield was first sergeant. About 
this time Lieutenant Caldwell resigned his commission 
and Sergeant Snow became Lieutenant Snow; all the 
section chiefs moved up one notch. Sergeant Sampsey got 
the fourth section, and Corporal Hitchcock recei\-ed 
another stripe and took charge of the sixth 

The first mounted drill started after the outfit had 
been in camp about a week I here were o\er 100 horses 
owned by the State of Ohio that were brought up from 
Briggsdale, Major H. M. Bush's farm and loaned for 
militar\- purposes The first drill was that pleasant and 
innocent little pastime known in the army as monkey, 
probably in\cnted b\ the ancients as one of the 
most effectixe forms of torttire Two or three days of 
this and most of the meals were eaten standing up, and 
men began wondering why the dickens they hadn't 
joined the infantry. This e.xercise. though somewhat 
painful, did wonderful things for Iceland Llickinger's ex- 
cess avoirdupois. 

After the monkey-drill, riding in a saddle was next 
in order and finally came the day when the boys first 
went out as a battery with the horses pulling the ma- 
teriel. The moral of the battery was high and it 



didn't take the men long to learn. B Battery had the 
use of the horses only e\ery third day, as the animals 
were used b\ Batteries A, B and C on alternate days. 

On July II, l^lP, the battalion was lined up to take 
the oath and the men became part of the Lcdcralizcd 
National Guard. 

it might be mentioned here, that the guard, as put on 
at Camp Willis was a wonderful and a fearful thing. 
Starting with Post No. 1 at the guard house on top of 
Headquarters Hill, there were twent\-three separate 
and individual posts stretching arounLJ the camp. This 
was the cause of so much humor at the time, that it came 
to the attention of Columbus and there w as a cartoon and 
write-tip by 'Westerman in the Ohio State journal that 
gave the whole cf Camp Willis a gooil laugh. The artil- 
lery camp was situated at the north end of Camp Willis, 
fartherest from the Columbus car line. Beyond the fence 
to the west of the camp, stretched a beautiful panorama 
of green that was the golf links of the Arlington Country 
Club; on the other to the cast were the tents of the 1st 
Ohio Ca\alry. Below the gun-park and across a wheat 
field was the iniantiA', and Camp Willis proper. And 
around the artillcr\, on the roai.1. through the gtin-park, 
along the countr\-club fence and up the little hill to 
Headquarters again, was the guarel, twenty-three of 
them — and they all knew their general orders. This 
was where some of the boys obtaincLl their first skirmish- 
ing experience, lor almost an\- night after taps, saw two 
or three figures skulking past the lourth hole on the golf 
links and up to the fence, under it, through f^ Battery 
and into the seclusion of B Battery s street and home. 
LIovlI Letch and Dan Carroll both li\ed in Columbus, 
Ohio, and they generally led these scouting expeditions. 

Along w ith the guard came the guard house, an^l this 
last was the place that ga\e "Rex" Hitchcock his start. 
Several of the men fell into the clutches of the law along 
with a number of A and C Batter\' culprits, and this 
necessitated a proxost -sergeant anel Hitchcock got the 
job. He hadn't been in office more than two days be- 
fore the guardhouse became the most unpopular place in 
camp, and a residence there, no matter how short the 
duration, a thing to be Llreaded. One of the first ideas, 
Sergeant Hitchcock inaugurated for the enjoyment of 
his prisoners, was the building of a natural bridged road 
o\er the little \alley between the battery street and 
headquarters. This became known as "Hitchcock Boule- 
vard" — btiilt at the expense of twenty broken wheel- 
barrows, thirt\-fi\c worn out shoxels, liftN picks ditto, 
two hundred back-aches and ten thousand blisters. 

Another pastime, which went to make life enjoyable 
at Camp Willis, was playcef with l^ieutenant Barton and 
"Doc " E. Z. Alspach. taking the center of the stage. 
They started serum inoculations, and by the time these 
were completed on August 31st, the medics had inoc- 
ulated the batterymen for just about e\ery disease 
known to man, with a vaccination thrown in for good 



The Red Guidon 



Page 3.) 



measLirc. This was known as "'the Sore Arm Era." and 
the popular greeting was: 

"Good morning' Ha\e you had today's inocula- 
tion'' " 

There were some pretty sore arms at first, and the 
first "shot." heing a new e.xperience. was taken more or 
less seriously. One corporal drew up his will, an^l twn 
or three of the boys wanted to call Akron o\er long dis- 
tance the night before and say a seconc^ good-bye to their 
relatives ,'\nd there were several white laces when thi,' 
time came and the needle plunged home, and some ol the 
men fainted; but after two or three weeks it had ceased 
to be a no\elt\' and a "shot in the arm" was onK- another 
one of those darn things, 

in July came the physical examination to Lletcrmine 
the fitness of the men for bor^ler service. Niearh' e\ery- 
body was anxious to pass it. as those who ha^l come this 
far were eager to see the 
ad\'enture through It was 
a ner\ous bunch that stood 
around the door of the med- 
ical buikling. awaiting their 
turn to go in. 

Freddie Seiberling was 
afraid he was under weight, 
and he drank so much wa- 
ter that it oozed from the 
pores of his skin. \\ hen the 
examination came, he tra\ - 
eled to the building in an 
automobile, as he ^lidn t 
want to lose any of his 

precious weight through perspiration, 1 he trick 
was successftil, and he went through with flying 
colors. Fred Exner. Howard Bowman and FIbert Cox 
also made noble attempts to add weight, an^l were suc- 
cessfully passed. When the examination was o\er — the 
last man looked at for Hat feet, the last chest tapped antl 
the last cotigh echoed into space — B Battery looked itsell 
o\er. and founel that it was still practically intact, Ihere 
were, howexcr. thirt\-twi) men who did not pass the 
examination. In this btinch the outfit lost a good cook 
in Frank Smetts. a good quartermaster when Ed Romily 
was ttirned down (he was under the minimum height) an^l 
his as.Mstant. "Whitey. " went with him lor the same 
reason. Inclueled in the hunch that went were Harry 
Blackwood. {". R .Andrews. Corp, William .\lcCucken. 
Geo. W, King. W. I- Lynch. L. W, Smith, fdarold ,A 
Talbot. Howard Rowen. James G. Scales. "Prof" Rich. 
Chas. Hoyt.C'has Brower. Ihomas 1 homas. an^l 1 ionic k 
And Vvith one or two exceptions, it was a gloomy btinch 
that left for Akron the next da>' 

Preliminaries o\cr, the real battery ^Irill and ma- 
neu\ers started, and almost any day one could ha\e seen 
B Battery in a cloud of dust in or around the wheat lield 
east of camp. "Right front into line at a trot." and 




"'Battery Right at a trot." the last section swinging 
around the pixot. horses straining at the collars and 
caissons banging o\er the ruts. Ihere were some fast 
rifling at this stage of the game, i^emember the time 
o\er by the road when the third section caisson struck a 
stump and turned over sending cannoneers into the air 
m <ill directions' .And the time when the battery w'as 
going throtigh the wheat field at a fast trot and the 
second section cais.scin bumped into a big stone'' "Tom- 
my" Thompsiin was dri\ing the lead team: his near horse 
stumbled, tlirew him, and when the tumult was o\er. the 
horse was underneath the caisson with one leg between 
the spokes <il the wheel Neither lommy nor the horse 
was hurt, but it was a grand and glorious mix-up. 

On the Inh of August a battalion athletic meet was 
hekl, antl Fi l^atter\'s score of points was almost twice 
the amount ol ,\ antl C Batteries added together. One 

Saturday in yXugust. at the 
in\ nation of the manager 
of the Columbus ball club 
m the .American Associa- 
tion, the whole battalitm 
loLirncNcd to Columbus and 
saw a good game between 
C'olumbus an^l InLlianapolis, 
("olumbus people, stancling 
on the corner of Broad 
.'street an^l on the street 
cars carrying the boys 
b:ick to camp, heaixl the 
Song that the bo\s were 
destined to smg through the 
I nite>.l States an^l exentually overseas: 

""Ohio- -( )hio, the hills scn^l Llr}wn the cry — "' 
i fere, m Camp Willis, as m e\er\ other place, it 
wasn't long before "when do we mo\e^"" became the 
po|Tular ^iLiestion. and it seeme^l a long, long time before 
It was answercLl, When the boys first arrucvl the\' 
thought It wouki be onl\ a matter of ^fa\s before the\ 
woLikl be on the wa\ to the border: but July gave way 
to .August, ani.1 they were still ^lomg gun-Llnll und train- 
ing the panoramic sights on the girls on the golf- 
course It seemcLl that exery state but the Fjucke\e 
was alreaLly south: Xew ^ ork and Massachusetts haLl 
been there since JtiK 4th, Week follow clI week an^l 
there were the usual rumors ani.1 no orders until finally, 
late afternoon ol .Atigust 31st, the battalion was ordereel 
to entrain lor Texas Ihere was a lot more eciuipment 
to pack than there had been in , Akron, hut the launch 
was not so green, with the result, it didn"t take an\ long- 
er. September 1st. the guns, caissons, eic, were hauled 
down to the railroad \ards west of Columbus The 
ca\'alry pulled oLit that afternoon 

Pup tents were pitchei,! in an orLlerly row along the 
railroad that night It was the last night in ("'olumbtis 
an^l nattiralK e\ervlxxl\ wantei.1 to tio to town. At 




*ll»V!i.v -^ 



dav; in Camp Pershing | 








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The Red (riiidon 



Pdijc :;: 



mess time Captain Alhreeht mai^le an announcement to 
the batterx' anei said theix- would be ahsoluteK' no passes 
to anyone, adding that the next day was to lie a hard day 
and he wanted the men to rest up. One-half hour later. 
at a rough estimate, there were four men left m the 
camp: three of these were on guard and the other had a 
sore foot. And to his credit, let it be put on record here, 
that later in the e\ening the captain met four of the 
batterymen on High Street. He looked, grinned, and 
passed on. It was a wild, wild night, for the Spirit of 
Eternal ^'outh was rampant, and the wind blew and the 
waves beat against the rocks. Many a good ship sailed 
into port much the worse for the storm; but they all got 
there! 

And the ne.xt day, at four o'clock, a long train com- 
posed of Pullmans, freight cars loaded with boxes, flats 
with the guns and caissons spiked down secureK'. and a 
kitchen car trailing a thin w isp of smoke, pulled out of 
the siding. Go\ernor Willis of Ohio was there to wish 
the boys good luck; a little cluster of friends and rela- 
tives wa\ed a last goodbye, the train gathered speed. 
and fainter and fainter became the song that rang out of 
the [-"ullman windows. 

"Ohio — Ohio, the hills send ^lown the cry — '" 

CHAPTER 1\- 

Tl IE first stop on the trip south was made on Sunday, 
morning, September Ird. at Washington, Indiana 
1 he train lay o\er for two hours and the battery marched 
through the streets of the town. The next da\- was 
Labor Day. and at noon a stop was made a few miles below 
Brookfield, Mo., at a little creek where the bunch took 
a swim. In East St Louis. Cook McKee\er put 
himself on "detached ser\ice" — he got oil the tram to 
get a bottle ot "Coca-Cola " and the train pulled out 
without him He ^lidn't get lost, thank goodness, he 
caught the next section. C Battery, and came on through 
with them. 

Major Bush and Headquarters Company were travel- 
ing with B Battery, and that evening, at C^aptain Al- 
brecht's request, the battery octette consisting of Ser- 
geant i\a\enagh. Bill Eoltz, Llo\\.l Eetch, Tomm\ 
Thompson, Russell Baer, Carleton Sperry, Ted Rich- 
ards and Homer Da\ is. ga\e a concert in the officer's 
car. They sang everything in their repertoire, including 
Russ Baer s specialty "We re going to the Hamburg 
Show," and at the conclusion Captain Albrecht treat- 
ed the bunch to a couple of bottles of \ irginia Dare 
wine. 

September nh ga\e the boys their first idea of what 
life would be for the next few months, as they got their 
first sight of the fiat plains of 1 exas. There was a two- 
hour stop at C.anadian. Texas, a town noted chiefly for 
its main street running up the hill an^l for its mil- 
lineryC) store. 



The Arrival at Fort Bliss, Texas. I he next day, 
the hth, brought .'\marillo. fexas and San .Marciel, New 
Mexico, an^l that night under co\er of darkness the train 
pulled up along the Rio Grande Ri\'er. past the fiat 
.Mexican buiklmgs on the lower edge of \l\ Paso, and 
finally at nine o'clcxk stopped at its destination. Lort 
Bliss, Texas. 

It was too late to do any unloading that night, so the 
Pullman berths were used for the last time. Early in the 
morning, ie\eille blew at the side of the cars, and life in 
[•J Paso began. It was a beautiful sight that greeted the 
batterymen when they pulled up the shades of the ear- 
windows that morning. — a ne\ er-to-be-forgottcn sight. 
On one si^le ol the train was Fort Bliss itself — a picture 
in gra\ that scattered o\er the mesa as far as the eye 
could see Stables in the foreground, with \eteran 
regular army men leading their horses to water, and 

be\ond them the hos- 
pital, a group ol bar- 
racks, the headquarters 
ol the Post Command- 
er topped b\- an .Ameri- 
can flag, and a long 
street of little gra>- build- 
ings that were the offi- 
cers c|uarters, and on 
the other side a picture 
that maLle the boys gasp, 
rub their e\es and look 
again. In the ^listance 
the Mt kranklm group, 
a chain ol mountains 
stretched against the 
horcon; the morning 
sun shining against their 
sides made them a spec- 
"* "■ ' tacle of red and gold anv.1 

tawn\' yellow . with wisps 
ol \apor still clinging to the tops. At the loot be- 
tween the railroai-l and the mountains, eoxering every 
foot of space as far as the eye could see, were camps 
Tents ever\where, until the whole panorama was filled 
with little \ellow ^lots; corrals filled with horses: gun 
parks laid out in orderly rows that denoted the |~iresence 
of artiller\-: and alwa\s more tents and more horses. 

.And clear against the morning air came the notes of 
bugles blowing reveille, the faintest ones far. far, away. 
! he men took another look at the \ari-colored mountains 
sprawling m the distance, at the neat camps in the tore- 
ground, listened to the bugles, and jumped out of bed; 
and the same thought was in nearly every mind. "Lord 
— this isn't going to be such a bad place to soldier!" 
Breakfast o\er. the work of unloading began, and 
trucks arrived to haul the equipment to the new camp. 
It was nearly a half mile from the switch at the [-"ort, a 
\acant field among the man\' tents that the men had 




The lied (iiiulon 



PiUjc :pj 



seen when they first lookeel out ol tlie ear window. 1 he 
camp site was directly in hack of the town of Lynch\ille, 
a cluster of buildings typical of any little Texas town. 
There were the Mesa Bar, Shorty's Pool Room. Todd's 
Eating House, the Lynch\"ille Bar and Joe's Barber Shop. 
Behind that tow n was the camp site, and the first view 
of it brought dismay to e\er\body. It was a howling 
wilderness of cactus, sand, greasewood, mesquite, and 
more sand. Huge clumps of meseiuite rose in the places 
where the tents were supposed to go; there was only 
one thing to do, anLJ the men did it. The old pick and 
shovel came into play Sergeants, corporals and every- 
body got busy with tlic result, the encl of the day saw 
the battery street cleareei of vegetation, the tents lined 
up in orderly rows, and supper rea^K at the kitchen. 
It brought \ery little rest, however, in th^- true sense 
of the word, for the clearing awa\- of the cactus, etc., 
had destroyed the homes of a very large portion of the 
animal and insect population of that part of Te.xas. 

The result was that countless tarantulas, centipedes, 
horneci toads, scorpions and lizards were roaming around 
the camp in a daze (Juite a collection was made 'hy the 
batterymen during the day and the honors in this line 
went to the fourth section men They had acquired a 
mason-jar from the kitchen m which to keep their col- 
lection of wild beasts and sun-clown found it nearly full. 
with centipedes in the majority and with a beautiful 
specimen o( horned toad acting as king of the ranch. 

The boys didn't get them all b\- a long shot, and 
nightfall brought very little sleep for most of them. 
O. D. Hollenbeck killed a scorpion unLler his bunk that 
night, and John Woodward had been in bed only a half 
hour when he found a centipede looking for shelter 
in his blankets. N'e.xt morning, the shoes, that hadn't 
been hung up the night before, were very carefullv shaken 
out before they were put on. \ he next night, as if to 
show how poisonous the insects really were. R C Thomp- 
son was bitten by a cen- 
tipede while he was sleep- 
ing; he was taken to the 
Base Hospital, where he 
lay for three weeks. ani;l it 
was two months before all 
the swelling went out of his 
face. 

Then there was a period 
ol ten da\s in which the 
battalion polished up on 
loot-drill. Then three more 
batteries. A and B ol Michigan, and .\ Battcr\- of the 
District of Cokunbia, arrived ani.1 made camp next to 
the Ohio Battalion 1 hese six batteries composed the 
I Ith Provisional Regiment of b^ield .Artillery. Colonel A. 
,\. Starbird. of the regular arm\'. was put in command 
ol the regiment. Major Bush commande^l the first 
l?attalion, and Captain Deems, the second. 



«^L..^i^ 




The Texas Horses. — The next proceLlure was the 

drawing ol horses, and one morning the whole battalion 
lined up with halters and marched to the remount statioti 
south ol 1 ynchville 1 he men came back with enough 
horses to equip the whole battalion, and, as usual, there 
were good horses and bad ones. Lvle McCormick was 
then stable sergeant and his job was to weed them out. 
They were weeded, and eventually saddle broken; bi.it 
like at Camp Willis, there were a goocT many falls and 
some bruises in the process. Later it was lounel the best 
horse in the bunch was Dixie. Dixie! King of them all, 
a horse that was to become a battery pet, and beloved 
by all the boys through the battery's entire career in 
.'\merica T he bad horses, and the ones that never were 
broken were "C'lrcus' ancT "Loco " Their names were 
well put, for they were wild, wild horses and stave^l wikl 
until the last. 

C>nce again the real battery work was begun. The 
horses were assigned to the different sections, harness 
was fitted; drill began on the field east ol Lvnchville. on 
the other side ol the railroad, and "stables. " blown twice 
a day by the buglers, began to mean something 1 he 
daiK drill program usually called for the "Battery 
MoLinted in the morning with "Right Lront into Line, 
etc.. and a short hike in the alternoon. with each man on 
a single mount. On one of those afternoons when the 
bunch was out with Lieutenant Snow in charge, the bat- 
terymen got as far as the stables of the nh Cavalry 
when the\' ran into a rainstorm It wasn't an ordinary 
rainstorm, it was a downpour — a Lleluge. It seemed as 
though soIilI sheets ol water were dropping from the sky. 
lora while the boys took shelter in the Cavalry stables, 
but It was late, the rain showed no signs of abatement, 
and It was decided to make a dash for camp 

And It was a eiash' It was worse than that, a break- 
neck, headlong race across the drill field, down the street 
ol Lynchv ille. arountl the corner of the Mesa Bar anLl up 
into the gun park. 1 hat was a never-to-be-lorgotten 
ride and 1 ennyson's "CTiarge of the Light BrigaLle" was 
tame compared to the "Dash of the 1st Ohio. " 

It might be said that this da\- nearlv' |irov clI the un- 
doing of Private Rhoads. It seems that Rhoa^ls was on 
stable police that dav'. and tiring of the Liuties ol his 
"Office. " decided to try his luck at riding "Loco W ith 
the help of the stable sergeant and after much work. 
"Loco was i.luly saddled and mounted. 

Lverything went well until the center of the drill 
field was reached and it started to rain. Well, to be 
brief, the harder it rained the harder "l^oco" bucked, 
and fmalh settled clown on all fours and refuscLl to move 
until the rain was nearly over. 

By this time Rhoads' dispositicjn was rLillkxl tip to the 
extent that he forgot all about "Horses first. Guns second, 
and Men last, " as taught by Major Bush, and abandoning 




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m 



T^i;;.^ 










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^^ 






m. 




The Red Guidon 



Page 'il 



Loco" somewhere near the "D. C' ." picket line, heat it 
for the second section tent. 

Who it was that finally peisuaJed "Loco to the li 
Battery picket lines ancl who remo\ed the saddle and 
bridle has always remained a mysterx' to Rhoads. 

Alter the drill ^ot prett\ well Lini.ler wa>- and the 
horses got into condition, came the test to find out how 
much the bo\s anLl horses could stand. 1 his came in the 
form of a three day hike o\cr the mesa, and was started 
before the dawn on the niornin<j. of No\'ember b, |OI(n. 

1 he now-lamous "Sob-fest" was held on the l^th ol 
November, the first annncrsary of B Battery's formal 
organization, marking a period ol one year from the time 
the battery was mustere^l in at Akron. While it was 
called a sob-fest, it was a pretty merry affair in the form 
of a banquet at the Zeiger Hotel in El Paso, It was 
limitCLl to the men who were in the battery at the time 
of the first muster on Xo\ember 15th, 1915. 

Captain Albrecht was toastmaster and Lieutenants 
Johnston, Snow, Babbitt. Sergeant Hollenbeck and Cor- 
poral I-red Seiberling made speeches. 

One of the hardest trials of the men in the new camp 
was met m getting used to the climate. 1 he lirst two 
months in I exas, September and (\nober, brought the 
hottest weather that they had e\er known The boys 
sweltered on the drill-field and lay on their bunks and 
perspired, and they learned how lucky the> were that 
they had stayed in Ohio during July ani-1 August The 
Rhode Island and Massachusetts batterymen told some 
pretty wiLl tales about the heat. No\ ember brought 
cooler weather but with it, as a tribute to the law of 
compensation came the sand-storms. 

It was a toss-up as to which was the worst, the dry, 
hot days of September anLl < 'etober, or No\ ember's 
cooler ones that brought with them the intermittent 
sand storms. Those storms brought a gray-brown dust 
that would not be denied. It crept into the tiniest cracks 
and enveloped clothes, trunks, bo.xes — anything am.! 
everything in a duty powder that mdunlcLl to an eighth 
of an inch in a da\-. Brush it oil in the morning and it 
was back again at night, anLl twice as baLl Day alter 
Llay It kept up until it became one ol the most disagree- 
able phases of army life, anLl linalK it ,ga\e rise to the 
popular little poem 

"There's sand in m\ blankets. 
There's sand in my clothes. 
There's sand in the coffee — 
The Lord only knows' " 

The Border Rumors. — Thanksgiving came and 
'"^''oLight with It a denial of the first rumors the O. f-". A. 
^ould be home on that date; it also brotight a big feed, 
of turkey and "all the fi.xm s" that McKeever and the 
rest of his staff had woikcLl for two nights to prepare: 
and it brought in the e\ening a second banquet at the 



Zeiger Hotel that was far more of a "Sob-fest' m the leal 
sense of the word than the first one on N'o\-, lith. 1 he 
dinner was gotten up by Bill Foltz and Claire .Ault; most 
1)1 the battciwmen were in attendance aULl it woliIlI ha\e 
been a gooLl banL|Uet haLl it not been lor two lactors 
( 1 ) the lact that it was the lirsi holitlaN m the army lor 
all the men anLl (2) nearly c\er\one had entertaincLl 
\ isions of the Mexican fracas o\er, and the batteiw home 
by that date. So instead of the gaiet\ uulI hilarit\ that 
was anticipated, it was more or less a gloomy bLinch that 
sat down to dinner. The whole gang was cranky anLl in 
a bad mood. It was as much as one's life was worth to 
say "pass the pickles, please." a polite rcL[Ucst for butter 
brought a growl and one bold artiller\man, who proposed 
singing "t^lhio" was erowncLl with a loal ol breuLl .Al- 
together the atmosphere was about as blue as at New 
Haven after a football victory at Cambridge, So alter 
all the big cv ent of the da\- was the Thanksgiv ing Limner 
in the battery mess-hall. That meal itself cotikln t have 
been an\ better at home, 

Ihe first training perioLl in I e.xas up until the first of 
the year was taken up with the regular work that all 
artillerymen received when thev 
first went to the border I he iiiilI- 
dle of (Vtober saw the completion 
of pair drill. auLl the man\' posi- 
tions that were taken up on the 
Mesa, going into action, simulating 
firing at targets, etc, .Alter that 
came the real thing, the acttial fir- 
ing ol the batterxon the range, anLl 
\, — "" that lasted until abnut the seconLl 

r week in L7)ecember It was a 

lot ol fun in those Llavs aULl 
iW: boys cnjovcLl everv' minute 
ol It The three Ohio batteries 
took turns on the range, two batteries liring while 
the other one lIilI range guaixl \ he memory ol the range 
Llays will probably stay longer with the men who were 
there, than any others. I he I exas mesa, with its cactus 
Lovered sand-hills, the guns i^Lilling into position with the 
horses working hard to pull the pieces throtigh the sand; 
the establishing of positions behind the little hill-, with 
the "B C" station showing its red fiag fnim the top ol 
another hill, Ihe iclI Hash and roar auLl a little pull of 
white smoke marking the burst far otit on the horizon, 
And for the drivers, pleasant memories of sitting on the 
saiiLl in the warm I exas sunshine, hoklmg their horses 
and wondering what Cocjk iMcl\ee\er was going to have 
for supper, or gazing lazily across the mesa at the curling 
smoke anLl white roofs of El Paso ten miles awa\'; or of 
going home. Sometimes it was late in the evening when 
"Cease firing — March'" order came elown, anLl by the 
time the battery was on its way home past the I exas 
School of Mines, the cold glittering stars of I'exas were in 
the sky anLl the air was chilly. 



V 



M 




^n^P*-- 













.^. > -i^ 







i! 






«"*»«*•*" 






The lied (iiiidoii 



P(Ujf 



',:i 



Then lIiinci's anJ cannoneers liULLIleel intu their 
overcoats: from all along the line came the clank ot steel 
horse collars anci up forward. Bill EJass's \oice raised in 
a pee\ish, "I want'a po home'" and the glow of countless 
cigarettes, and I\a\enagh, l^ill holt:, Larry Fetch and 
Russ Baer singing. "Oh, Lord jeffery Amherst was a 
soldier of the king." 

Then home, a quick unharnessing and unhitching, at 
which "Spick" Woodward was one of the best men in the 
outfit, and a good hot supper followed hy a re\ iew oi the 
day in the tents, cozily heated with the old Sihley stoves 
'^'es, those were the happy days, 

[during this period there were two things worth\- ol 
mention here. I'odd's Eating House sprang into fame 
as a place where the batterymen could get a good break- 
fast of hot cakes and coft'ee. It was just below the stables 
and gun-park; a good man\ ol the men lor a long while 
did not see the mess hall in the moinmgs. Some ot the 
frequenters of lodcl's were Sergeant Hollenbeck. Claire 
Ault, Jim and Lyie McCormick. joe KelK, Howard 
Treat and Bill Foltr. The other thing to be remem- 
bered: "Rex" Hitchcock began his bettmg-bee with 
Lieutenant Lainn the battalion \ eterinanan : and "when 
do we go home was the subject ol all bets Hitchcock 
bet the batteiy would not reach home b\ (~hristmas of 
that year. 

The second week m December saw the beginning ol 
the glanders epidemic, a \ery serious time m the battery's 
career. Se\eral well-developed cases of glanders were 
disco\ered among the horses of the battalion and steps 
were taken to pre\ent the spread ol the disease. Isolated 
corrals were hurriedly erected separating the stables 
of the three batteries. Each horse was given the Mallein 
test for glanders. Suspected horses were immediately 
taken away to be treated or shot. A few horses that did 
not show up under the test and yet looked sick were 
isolated in a corral west of camp, near the loothills ot 
Mt. LVanklin. A fence was erected around the 11th 
Provisional Regiment bearing signs, "Glanders! Very 
contagious. Keep out!" 

Only certain men were allowed to go near the stables. 
1 hey were the men who \olunteercd ; two Irom each 
section, and they did all the necessary teeding, watering, 
grooming, etc. 

1 hey helpeci l^ieutenant l.tinn ^loctor the sick horses, 
and belorc they were allowed to lea\e the corral the\' 
had to take off their latigue clothes, lea\e them at the 
stables and wash their hands in a creolinc solution. 
For a while, it was a fight to keep the disease irom 
spreading, but quarantine rules an^l the laws \Md vlow n 
by "Dec" Lunn finally won the da\ In all thirteen 
horses were lost The quarantine w.as lilte^l just alter 
("hristmas. 

As a precautionary measure and lo be sure that no 
glanders germs might possibly be lurking, all the tents 
were sealed while sulphur was bLirno,! in them, and bed 



blankets as well as horse-blankets were put m a large 
sterilizing machine and thoroughly sterilized Lor a lew 
nights afterward, sleeping on those blankets was not 
much of a pleasure, due to the lumes ol formaldeh\-de 
that persisted in sta\ing. but the blankets were sanitary' 
And then came C~.hristmas' Pages and pages of this 
history might be written about that Christmas of B 
Batter\s It might ha\ e been a \er)^ blue one: it was 
the first ("hiistmas in the army (than which there is 
nothing worse under I leaxen) and besides, the boys had 
expected to be home long, long before then. The Mcssa- 
chusetts N, Ci, had gone, as had Rhode Island and part 
of the Pennsyh'ania troops, but Ohio was still there with 
prospects of staying indefinitely. And so, lor the first 
time in their li\es, lots of the men came to know the 
meaning of Grantland Rice's little poem, written es- 
pecially for such as they: 




"L'or ('hristmas on the off-trail isn t what we used to 
think It 
1 hear the blare ol bugles, and the roll-beat ol the 
i^lruni ; 
.■\n^l somewhere, in the distance, a kid calls ",\lother, 
mother'" 
.And then, through all the drifting years — we know 
how far we \ e come 
Considering the circumstances, it might ha\c been a 
blue Christmas, but it wasn't. For there was too much 
to do, and too much excitement for anybody to get blue. 
The people at home helped out to a large extent, and 
long before ("hristmas, hundreds of boxes, loaded with 
good things to eat and presents, came for the bins in the 
batter\-, and on the 2 3rd and 24th of December there 
were so man\ ol them that each da\- saw two truckloa^ls 
of presents come in In e\ery tent there was jam on the 
tables, cake and cookies under the cots, cand\ e\er\'- 
where, and pink riblxms and red and green bells hung 
along the walls 

A se\en-da\' \acalion was LleclaicLl, fr(.)m (.hristmas 
until January- 2nd, F">17, the only work done was the 
absolutely necessary feeding and watering of the horses, 
and kitchen worf; This work was di\"ided among the 
sections, each section t.iking a day. So that there wouki 




r** 




r 

9w 



The Red (hiidon 



Page i.) 



be no favoritism, the names of the seven clays were put 
into a hat and each section-chief drew one, O, D. 
Hollenbeck was the unlucky man at that party lor he 
drew Christmas i.la\' loi" the third section to work ani.1 stay 
in camp. 

Christmas Day itself was one of the worst days for 
weather m the batterx's border experience .All day lon^ 
the wind howled down out of the mountains and shrieked 
around the corners of the tents, a veritable tornado that 
brou{;ht with it the usual deluge of sand. It was a regular 
Texas sand storm, the kind that the men used to call 
"Oklahoma and Texas passing m Review." .-\ few- 
hardy spirits brave^l the storm an^l went to El Paso, but 
most of the battervmen stayed in the tents an^l ate the 
contents of the boxes from home 

Lumber came in for boards an^l side-walls for the 
tents, earlv" m the week, and all of the sections vfilunteercd 
to put floors an^l side-walls in the tents as a Christmas 
present to themselv es. Otitside of that there w as nothing 
to do. Most of the bovs had a pretty good time, The 
racing season was on at Juarez and a large part of the 
men spent their afternoons leaning over the rail and 
watching the horses sweep around the corner of the 
track. In Lil F-'aso there were movies, and dancing at the 
Sheldon Hotel, and across the Rio Grande there was the 
quaint an^l interesting eitV' of Juarez, Mexico, where the 
boys eoukl see a near bull-fight. 

Cooks McKeever, Iriel, Walker and Curry contrib- 
uted in no small measure to the sticcess of the week I hey 
workcel hard; they got out a wontlcrful Christmas limner 
and served it in the evening. That elinner was a least 
of good things, and all week, the meals were above the 
average. The Third Section, the unluckv men who had 
drawn Christmas Day to feed horses, do kitchen police, 
etc, hai.1 arranged for a big dinner at the X'alley Inn at 
^slcta, N M, Christmas evening. Hollenbeck an^l his 
crew had a big party and came back in the wee small 
hours of the morning. .Altogether, it was a prettv' big 
week; while it might have been better, it couki have been 
a whole lot worse, '.^ 

The first of the vear brought manv things. I^ouking 
backward and taking accotint of itself, the battery found 
that it was a pretty well organized battery of Field Artil- 
lery, a well drillcLl an^l efficient (irganization. It hael 
been on the range an^l ha^l seen some very gooel liring, 
and a little over a vear of its career was behind it. l.ook- 
iiig ahead, an^l considering the fact that Mexican affairs 
were at a stanclstifl, that many of the troops on the 
border were alreadv' gone, the chief L|ucstion in the minds 
of evervone was "when do we .no home ^ .\ni.l ap- 
parentlv there was no answer The 11th Provisional 
Regiment now took up the yearly drill schcLlule allotted 
to regular army artillery, and the lust part of it was 
devoted to sub-calibre practice. linv pasteboari.1 tar- 
gets in the form of horses, caissons, infantry, cavalrv', 
were put up among the mesquite and greasewood below 



the mountains; an^l the passing davs saw the gun crews 
at their gtins peppering awav' with the sub-calibre car- 
tridges. It was good sport; the men could find the 
targets against the hilKiLle, anel the crack of a bullet, the 
puff of dirt an inch above the white bit of pasteboard 
was the eatise of mtich excitement 

A gooi:! bit has i^een said about the mountains at 
('amp Pershing; a gooi.1 l^it more might be saii.f and still 
that woiikln t be hall enoLigh In their beautv, they 
ma^le up for all the sand-storms, all the elust, and all 
the disagreeable features of the I exas climate. Stretch- 
ing away in an unending p..inorama as a backgrouuLl lor 
Camp Pershing, Xlt, I ranklin towering above the rest 
of the groLip, thev were a soui'ce of constant ^lelight to 
the batterymen Ihey were a sililK m lights anLl shacl- 
ows, and from the time the stm rose ani.1 change^l then- 
ashy-gray to a splendor of red an^l gokl antl vellow until 
it sank behmtl them an^l maLJe them a vision of purple 
anel orange, thev were never the same color anv' twi.) 
mmtites of the ^lav Thev- were the sort ol mountains 
that Maxfiekl Parrish loves to paint; his pictures the 




km^l that peo|^le look at and sometimes branel him as a 
nature-lakir. 

I he mcmth of January saw the Llestruction of the 
l^atterv- s observation balloon when it blew awav' from 
Its moorings one night, ani.1 was hopelessly ripped on 
the cactus spines And it was also in the month of 
January that the famous "Keg Party" was held, where 
.McKeever made a speech an^l Alvin Ritter sang "Sweet 
Spittoon." Ihe month also recalls the more serious near 
not with the C^eorgia ^Artillery It wasn t exactly a not, 
but It had all the earmarks of one The affair was the 
cLilmmation of a series of small brawls between Ohio 
an^l Cjcorgia artillervmen, and without fear or i^rejudice. 
it may be saul that I )hio usually got the better of it I he 
culmination of the affair came one night when Ceorgia 
threatencLl to come over and "get" (Jhio, aLlLling that 
thev' were going to "get em good'" The (.>. b. .A took 
It verv' quietiv'. made a few small preparations and sat 
clown and wailed liarlv in the evening there was a 
false alarm, but the threat was never luH'illeel .Altogether, 
It was a luckv thing— for Georgia' 



The Red Guidon 



P(i(l< 



'u 



The next thing on the training schedule was pistol 
practice, and the old "Colt 4''" came into pla\-. Targets 
were erected on the west side ol camp toward the moun- 
tains, and there was firing nearly c\cr\- alternoon for a 
month. Some heretofore unknown "Deade\e Dicks 
were disco\ered in the organization, chicl ol whom was 
Elbert Cox. He knocked the htilN-cye cold nearly e\'er\ 
time his pistol cracked He was the onh man in the 
battery to win the medal for ' li.xpert Pistol Shot. Al 
Long ran Cox a close second, and very nearly made 
expert . the two Sperrys, Schrader and Don Scott followed 
Long \'cry closely. 

There was a big artillery re\ lew in Lebrtiary, All the 
artillery in the El Paso district passed in review before 
General St John Grehle on the drill field east of camp. 
And the Cattlemen's Conxention that began the first ol 
March and lasted two weeks, marked the beginning ol 
the end. "Going home" rumors, the first ol which was 
heard around Thanksgi\ ing, were more persistent than 
ever, and earned more con\iction. 1 here were \ ery few 
outfits left on the border. Cjcneral [\-rshing and his ex- 
peditionary force had come up out of Mexico and the 
Mexican crisis was practically o\ er I he (Jhio Bat- 
talion had been in Texas six months, which was three 
months longer than it had expected to stay; the men 
were well drilled and rather sick of sand storms, what 
then, was keeping them^ 

The answer to that quest um was now onh a matter 
of i.la>s. Lhe Cattlemen's C^onxentuin went into lull 
swing, with hundrecis of cattlemen an^l cow-punchers m 
the streets of El Paso. .A parai^le through the downtown 
district of all the troops left arounLl Lort l^liss was held 
as a part of the eon\ention, and out at the Rio Grande 
Baseball Park a large "rodeo came into being It was 
a \ery interesting affair. Most of the soldiers attended at 
least one day of the week and saw their first exhibition 
of cow-punching, hog-tying. roping, throwing steers, etc. 

Mo\ ing orders for the two batteries from Michigan 
and the District of Columbia batter\' saw the breaking- 
up ol the 11th Provisional Regiment .ViilI while the 
Ohio men were cleaning harness and carnages on Friday 
afternoon. March 10th, the grand and glorious news 
came down. The Ohio battalion was ordered to Lort 
Sheridan, 111., to be mustered out. 

h"relevant as it may seem, it wouLl not be amiss, 
considering the trend of later e\ents, to ieeori.1 a certain 
conversation that took place m the Seconal section tent 
the day moving orders came 1 larness cleaning was 
over, and the men were washing up. anLl getting read\ 
for mess. 

Ted Richards was sitting on his bunl-; thinking about 
the ftittire in Akron. Finally he said. 

" Thank the Lord, it's come at last ; a couple of weeks 
now and the battery will be mustered otit 



■And Bill bolt:, drving his hands on a towel, managei.1 
to live up to his acqtiired reputation as a Joy-killer. 

"Maybe we will he said. "We will— if the Kaiser 
lets Us alone long enough " 

I he\ latighed at him then \\ ho shall say now that 
Bill Liiltz was not the truest prophet of them alL 

.Ml the horses with the exception of thirty-two, that 
were pieke^l to go home with the battery, had been turned 
in about a week before. These thirty-two were picked 
as the best horses of the bunch by Captain Albrecht 
and Lieutenant Lainn. Dixie, of course, was one of 
the elect, an^l the near horse of Bill Kelly's swing team, 
"Kellw' was taken after some deliberation. Thev ^Ikln't 
want "Kelly" at first, but he afterward proved to be the 
second best horse in the battery It wotiLI be a great 
mistake to think that all the good horses were taken. 
L)n the eontraiw, there were some very good ones left 
behin^l 1 hrough six months" association there ha^l 
sprung up a close attachment between the men and their 
horsLs. anel the da\ the nags were turned back to the re- 
mount station, It was a parting of real fnen^ls The 
parting t)f ("iscar kiollenbeck and his mount "BakK " was 
the most totiehing of all. and "Hollie ' was a sorrowful 
looking soldier as he slippe<.l the halter off l^aldy's head, 
slapped him on the back and watchei.1 him trot away. 

lhe freight cars were not spottctl immediately, and 
the batterymen (now okl hands at the moving game), 
spent Satuixlay, Sunelav, anel the most of Monday taking 
care of the packing so that the material would be ready 
when the cars eame Ihev' finally arrived, a long string 
of them, about live o clock in the evening. I he move was 
schcelulcel lor the next day, so loading hael to be elone 
that night lhe weather was seeonel onl\' to that of 
Christmas elay anel it was a memorable night. lhe men 
worked in pitch Llarkness with only a lantern here and 
there to help oLit while the wind and sanel neaiiv' took 
them off their feet. Boxes went into the cars, the guns 
were spiked to the floors of flats, and the wind blew a 
veritable gale IJeven o'clock saw the job completed, 
the Pullman cars rolled in at eleven-thirty, and a tired 
and sandy bunch got into them and went to bed. I he 
train was switeheel around, and in the morning the bat- 
terv' was heading past the El Paso flats, past the "Spigoty" 
huts, past the Rio Grande and the International brielge. 
anel along the same rotite thev had come some six months 
before There was a big canvas sign stretehci,! the 
whole length ol the ihiiel Pullman car. It bore the 
legenel: 

"B Battery Homeward Bound." 

.And from the windows eame the song that echoed the 
sentiments of the whole crow el 

"Oh, It s home bovs, home, it s home we're going to be 
Home. bovs. home in Cioel s eountry — 



The Red (liiidon 




(:hapter \' 

THLi trip i^Dino north was one continual not ol joy. 
1 he men were qiiartereel in Pullman sleepers; Bill 
Folt: and Bill Kelly were running a canteen, and B Bat- 
tery was goinfj home. Small wonder they were happy' 
The first stop was made at San Marciel, New Mexico, 
on the fourteenth; the fifteenth brought Alamagordo, 
where half an hour's stop was made; just long enough for 
the boys to eat breakfast at the Har\ ey House restaurant. 
The train passed through /Xmarillo that night, and the 
next day at two o'clock, a two-hour stop was made at 
Enid, Oklahoma. This was a pretty little town, and the 
battery took it by storm; the horses were exercised, and 
some of the staid residents of the city must have been 
surprised at the sight of mounted soldiers, red hat-cords, 
leather puttees, spiirs and all, clattering up Main Street, 



Newburgh, Mo., was the next layoxer, the afternoon 
of the se\enteenth. No one who took that ride will 
e\'er forget that town; if anyone of them was asked 
"What was the biggest hick town you e\er saw^ " it is a 
pretty conservative estimate that he would say, without 
the slightest hesitancy, "Newburgh, Mo.'" It certainly 
bore all the earmarks; one main street, the corner grocery 
store, a creek, and the residence district C) on top of a 
cliff. The Newburgh High School Literary Society had 
a meeting that afternoon with several fond parents and 
relatives of the members in attendance. Some of the 
boys wandering past stopped in, anJ at the invitation of 
the principal, "Two Gun" Jones and Harold Jackson 
made a little speech describing the hardships and "suf- 
ferings" endureci by Battery on the border, talking on 
the battle of Mt Franklin and the "Sic"c of the Mesa," 



The Red Guidon 



Page W 



Early the next morning a short stop was made at 
St. Louis, Mo., long enough for some of the men to get 
breakfast in Union Station. anJ for Don Stanton to take 
a street ear to his home, sa\ "Hello" to the lolks anLl 
hurry haek. Decattir. HI , was the last stop on the way 
up, antl in the two hours here, as e\"erywhcie else, the 
men met a wonelerfiil hospitality. The ne.xt morning 
the battery looker! otit the whilIow anJ saw their first 
snow-storm of the winter. The stations the\' passeti 
along the roael reatl "Li\anston, 111, " an^l "1 lighlan^l 
Park, 111,, " and finally the train eame to a stop on ,\lareh 
lC)th at 1-ort Sheiidan. home ol the bat- 
tery for the next six weeks. 

What a host of pleasant- ani.! bitter — 
memories the name of loit Shei iclan 
brings up! It markeel the turning point 
in B Battery's career; the lIi\ ision be- , 

tween the okl and the new, .Vni^l what 
a beautiful place it was' The 1-ort itself 
was more like an old college or uni\ ersity 
than a military institution, 1 he long 
gray stone barracks eo\ere^l with i\y, ^^ 
i-lixidcd m the mitklle l^y the water tuw- ., 'ij||ij||f |['|| 
er, and a high shalt ol gray stime, the 
well kept lawns that remin^kxl okl college i 

men ol former campus da\s, tlottcd here ' 

and there with oaks and elm trees, the v ^ 

'•V 

N'orthwestern R. R. station, the autlito- 
rium ani-l the neat stone houses. theoHi- 
cers' quarters,- e\ en the stables were 
architectLirally beautiful, and the whole 
effect, oak-bordered walks, graystone, i\ \ 
covered anel time worn, was peaceful ani.1 soothing. 

On one side of the lort, anLl west of it, were the tracks 
of the Northwestern R. R ani,l the C.hicago iSi' Milwaukee 
Lilectnc Line: to the east at the loot of the l^luff, the 
siKer waters of i,ake Michigan stretched sheer into the 
horizon: the aristocratic sLiburb of Lake korest, with 
L'erry Hall School for girls. la\ to the north and Highlancl 
Park to the south, 

I'rom a standpoint of ease and luxury, lort Sherulan 
was far and away, the best place the battery e\er stayetl 
The barracks were large, warm and comfortable, steam- 
heatc^l and electricalK lighte^l Down in the basement, 
there were showers or tub baths at the pleasure of the 
bather, and the water was always good and hot, Kelh 
and loltr estal-ilished their canteen in the basement, anel 
the toys soon lormed a habit of taking a bath, then 
dropping into the canteen clad in a towel, to btiy a ham 
sandwich and a cup of coffee, I he mess hall anel kitchen 
were in a separate building across the area-way, and thus 
were just as good as the barracks. The ranges in the 
kitchen were. huge affairs that would ha\e done credit to 
the Portage Hotel. In comparison with Camp Willis 
and El Paso, living quarters at Fort Sheridan were more 



%l 




■~J\, 




'IT 



like a good hotel than anything else. As George Pattullo 
would say. '"Boy Howdy! That was the life!" 

And it was the life — those first three weeks. The 
boys were going home, at least they thought they were, 
anel m the meanwhile they meant to ha\e a good time. 
.\nel the\ ^liel There was little or no drill, and w,-hat there 
was. was lots of fun In the mornings, Lieutenant John- 
ston took the battery out indi\-idually mountcel for 
long rieles along the saneK beach of Lake Michigan; 
coming back he waitcel until they were a mile or so from 
ihe kort, an^l then would let the peaeeftil Jaunt dexclop 
into a race 

Sometimes the route was changed and 
-■••'• the road kxl throtigh the smart little 

towns of Lake korest and Highland Park. 
*; In the afternoons the men who were not 

(■ on guarel. stable-police, etc.. proceeeled 

to take a bath, shave, dress in civilian 
clothes and go to Chicago, only forty 
minutes' ride on the Northwestern R, 
R One week after the Ohio Battalion 
lanekxl at kOrl Sheridan, the clerk in 
the Western Lnion Telegraph oil ice at 
Highlanel Park maele the confession that 
he hael recei\eel more money b\' tele- 
graph from ( )hio than he hael in all his 
prior three years' experience! 

."so life went on merrih" enough, and 
there wasnt a clouel on the horcon. 
Lxeryone was too busy to take the 
newspapers seriousl\-; though if they 
had studieel them. the\- might ha\e 
worrieel o\cr the war news, and the 
ominous wai-clouels that were gathering and threat- 
ening the peace of America The Lusitania had been 
sunk long ago, anel \arious <ither o\ert acts b\' Cjcrmany 
were catising patriotic ,\merieans to clamor for reprisals. 
Btit It was onl\' the "same old stuff" the hoys thought, 
anel none of them took it seriously. Cheeking up of 
equipment went right ahead, and the afternoon of March 
2oth there was a big inspection on the \eranela of the 
barracks It was an oielnance inspection anel inekielcel 
pistols, holsters, web-belts, etc , and it was to have been 
the last inspection prior to the I timing back of equipment 
to the State of Ohio, A short time after mess that e\en- 
mg, the blow fell, A telegram came like a bolt out ol a 
clear sk\ ",-\ll demobilization of troops was to cease at 
once' " 

In recalling this history, the kindest thing to elo would 
be to pass htirriedly o\cr the next few days. It was a 
period of efeep gloom, in one respect, the darkest era in 
the battery's whole career. You w'ho were there, — you 
know what it meant, an^l how you felt. But you who 
were not. try to picture it lor yourself; long months of 
eirill in the sand-storms of lexas; men who had enlisted 
to light in Mexico, to stay m LI Paso and groom horses 




'ri\(' Red Guidon 



Page 51 



instead; months o( ^Inllmn when lii-kicr National Guard 
units had long ago been sent hack to ci\il life; finally a 
chance to go home, \ isions of Akron within another 
week; and then, without any warning, a telegram that 
said you were not to be mustered out alter all' Can vou 
blame them for being gloom\-^ 

It was not surprising then, when a general or^ler came 
through shortly after to the effect that men having de- 
pendent relatives, that is. men who could proxe they hael 
been contributing to their support, wiiukl be mustered 
out of the service, that the majority of the hatterymen 
would try to get out and go home for a few weeks, whether 
they really were entitled to a discharge or not The 
"G. O" stated that affidavits from the man's parents, 
anel signed by a notary, would be necessary, with the 
result that there was a rush for pen and ink anel reciLiests 
were sent home to the "okl man' to please senel an 
affidavit to the elfect that he anel the children wouki 
starve in a week if Sam dieln t get home at once. When 
all the affidavits came in and were sworn to, the worthy 
cases picked out. and the family bread winners given 
their honorable discharges, there were eighty-eight out 
of 1 SO odd men and officers left in the batterv'. And some 
ol the men who said goodbye to B Batterv' that elav . and 
boarded the train at the Northwestern R R were: — 
Marshal Weaver, led Richards, Chalmers Weeks. Bill 
Foltz. Bill Kellv'. f'larcnce loust. k'rank Cjood. Russ 
I rombly. Bill Schneieler. jimmie Snapp, Harry Hedges, 
f4arrv Rhoads, Wni \lcKee\er, Ciene Crawford, Jim 
and Lvle McCormick, Wesley Purdy. Martin L^av is. 
Claude anel Ira jump. "Babe' Hunsicker, "Scissors" 
Hall, and "Pete " Sprigle. 

Then, on .April bth, \^\7. war was eleclareel with Cjer- 
many, and the men left of the battery were in the armv 
lor good, f-ittle or nothing of any import happeneel in 
the remaining three weeks at f-ort Sherielan Bill 

Martin was sent to the hospital with scarlet lever, anel 
all the men sleeping in the barracks with him were Cjuar- 
antmeel anel put in charge of Roscoe l-'oling; lor two 
weeks they livcel a hie of ease and luxury, even having 
their meals brought upstairs to them. Fowarei the last 
it became rather monotonoLis. anel they were all glad 
when the quarantine was lifted. 

Captain Albreeht. First Sergeant Kavenagh and 
Corporal Seiberling lelt for .Akron to open a recruiting 
office. Once again the batterv hael to be recruited to 
war strength. 1 hen on April 2(Sth. I'-'l", the (.')hio biekl 
Artillery got moving orders again; ee|ui|^ment was loadcel 
on Sunday, the 2''Xh. and the train pulled out at seven 
o'clock. 1 he singing and "pep that u-.uallv markeel B 
Battery train rides was sadly missing this time 1 he 
surprise that camj on March 27th was still too fresh m 
memory and the future too vague .And with bort 
Sheridan vanishing in the distance. B Battery finished 
her old career, and embarked upon a new one. 



CHAPTER VI 
' I 'HE train pulled into Camp Perry. Ohio, about eight 
-»• o'clock the ne.xt morning. April 3()th. The arrival of 
National Guard was not a new spectacle on this site, as 
Camp Perry was. and has been for years, the rifle range 
of Ohio and many summers had seen Ohio Guardsmen 
there I his time however, the arrival of troops was 
unexpected; America's war with Cjermany was in its 
mfancv anel mobilization hael not begun C>h\o did not 
e|Uite know what to do with her own troops; the artil- 
lery, engineers and signal corps were the only troops 
caught by the "no more elemobilization' oreler and 
Major Bush made the remark "that thev' were unwel- 
come guests in their own state " 

Camp was pitched on the flat grounel east of the rail- 
road switch anel the pvramielal tents that hael not been 
used at bort Sherielan, once more sprang up There were 
plenty of board floors, stackeel in neat piles all over the 




camp and each tent soon had a wooden floor. It starteel 
raining in the alternoon of the elav the Batterv arrived; 
It was the last dav' of the month anel mu>ter was helel 
that night in the pouring rain. Major Bush maele a short 
speech, the high spots of which were to the effect the war 
was serious business, anel he expeetcel eveiv man to "play 
the game 

I he Ohio b.ngineers anel Sign;il (j)ips piilkvl in the 
next elav' anel pitched tents; anel all the Ohio National 
Guard outfits in the service were ut Camp Periv and B 
Battery was among them, .About six o'eloek the next 
evening '"lop Kick"' Kavenagh back in .Akron showed 
that he was on the job by the delivery of IS recruit >. the 
first for the Batterv' since the gas-house elavs Two of 
them, James Lester and George Smith were reieeted as a 
result of Lieutenant Barton's physical examination; but 
those who stayed and began drilling uneler Lee Breese, 
Mike Cireene. Robert Newman anel )en^en .\LEntee 
were Sidney Sedberry. Archie Muiphv, \aughn Peoples, 
Harry Dotigherty, Orland Outlanel, ('.has Seikel. Robert 
.Merrill. |ohn L'tink. Paul N'rabjc. Harrv' Slater. Eret 
Hull, John Hiemel, .Marshall Sheets, Wm Murphv. 1., 
D. Clark and Morgan Bright. 



P(HJC 



.)5 



The lied (hiidon 



To these IS men goes the honor of being B [battery's 
first vokinteer recrtiits enlisted for the war w ith Germanv- 

A little previoLis to this it was mentioneLl that it 
rained the i-lay the Artillery landei.1 in ("amp PeiiA'. It 
might be abided that it rained the next lLin , ani.1 the next, 
and the next. In laet it rained anel it rainei.1 ani.1 it rained' 
E^eaiitilLil weather' L:\'erything and e\er\b()Ll\ was soggy 
ani.1 Llamp 0\d farmers, long-time resKlenters ol that 
part o( Ohio, looke^l Lltibioiisly at the elownpoiir an^l eal- 
eulateLl that they "ne\er seed stich wx'alher lor this time 
of the year'" To make matters worse a stead\' gale be- 
gan blowing from the North, direetly off the Lake 
1 here was a lour-loot retaining wall ^ilong the beaeh, 
but the wintl wiis so high and steaely that fotir feet was 
insLitlieient and the white waxes began to slop over the 
wall. Noein of the foLirth ol \la\- found gallons and 
gallons of water pouring o\er, and spilling into the tar- 
get ranges; and by four o'elock the I'lekls were eoveretl 
with a silver sheet of water that erept nearer an^l nearer 
the camp, t^nee the water got oxer the little rise in the 
grounel arounLl the target l^titts it IoHoxxclI the lines 
of least resistance towartls the .Xrtillery eamp. 

Seven o'clock that dax brought no change in the 
xxeather and the water ke|^t creeping up, inch b\ inch 
until at nine o'clock the first water appeared in the Ixit- 
tery street. Lanterns began to bob in the darkness, top 
Sergeants whistles blexx , ani-l the men xxere toLI to "come 
a rolling'" Lngineers, Signal C/irps ani.1 .\rtillery all 
began to abandon Camp 

Everything was left just as it \xas, only L^ei.lding and 
personal belongings were taken. The troops took up 
quarters for the night in the concrttc building known there 
as the mess-hall. 

Morning came at last, and brotight with it a xast 
change in the scenery. Where once ha^l been green grass 
there x\as now a large lake, and the tents of the (.^hu) 
troops had settled down in the xvatcr. Boxes, and a hat 
or two and txxo or three suit cases floated serenely aroun^l 
in two feet ol water in the Battery street. The men 
elidn t like to contemplate xxhat they wouki lin^l when 
they got back to the tents I he first thing to be accom- 
plished xxas the rescue ol the horses, Ihis was done 
immci^liately alter breakfast, and they xxere turned loose 
in the fields, west ol the mess-hall A good many xvet 
leet xvere acciuired m the process and the cry immediatelx' 
went out for rubber boots, A telegram announcing the 
catastro|:ihe xxas sent to Akron xvith a reciuest lor as 
many rubber hoots as was possible to send, but the bcjots 
were slow in coming and dn.ln't arrix'c for C|uite a xvhile 
afterxvards. The horses attended to, all the tent I loots 
were blocked up clear of the xxatcr and the equipment 
piled on cots. All that could be done while the xvater 
xvas still up xvas finished in two or three days, and then 
it xx'as merely a matter of waiting for the water to recede, 

Lile in the mess-hall xxas lar from pleasant. The 
building xvas never intended for sleeping cjuarters, an^l it 



would haxe comfortably accommodatCLl about onc-thitLl 
ol the number ol men who were packed into it. The hall 
was damp and xxet and the btinks were packed in so 
tightly that they oxerlappcLl, with the result no one had 
room enough to mox e aroun^l I he men had to endure it 
lor a week 

V>\ .\la\' 12th, howexer, the groutxl was prettx' xvell 
Llrainci.1 oil antl the Camp was mox clI to a new place 
behind the mess-hall. 

Sixteen more recruits came in the night of the 12th 
and the liattery began to fill up The whole day of May 
1 3th was gi\en oxer to building pieket-lines. New Texas 
horses came in that night and xvith the '52 brought up 
Irom the border, the Battery was eeitiippci,! 1 he horses 
came in at nine o'clock an^l Lieutenant joe Johnston, 
commani^ling the Batter\' in ("aptain .Mbrecht s absence, 
had a hard time routing the boys out ol be^l It xvas 
past one o'clock before the cars xx'ere unloaded and the 
horses tieel tip. 

Captain .Vlbixcht ani:l his recrtuting Staff were busy 




in Akron ani.1 recrtiits kept coming in Six men arrixed on 
,\Ia\' 2 k1 an^l June nh was the recoivl breaker when 41 
men marehetl into camp Prior to this time howexer the 
Battery suffercLl more losses in her ranks, for the papers 
brought out the announcement ol the lirst CM fleers' 
Training Camp, .A large numlxr ma^le application for 
It, as they all figurcLl their boivler experience entitled 
them to xeear black an^l ,gokl hatcoixls Later ex'cnts 
proxeel that thex' ha^l the right Klea I'he BattLivmen 
xvho xxon the coxete^l chance to go to school xx'ere Richard 
X'lneent, "Rex ' I litchcock, 1 loxvard Treat, Al Richmond, 
Jensen .\LLntec. jack Sampsey, Lee Breese, Harry 
Webster, Ro\' Limbach, I e^l Powers, Carlton and jack 
Sperry, John Whitloek, Al Long. Russell Palmer. Robert 
Craig, Homer Daxis, Claire Ault and Don Stanton. 
Gilbert Lane and Hugh l3oone left with them. They 
howexer, had taken an examination at Lort Sheridan 
and xvcre commissioncLl immcLliately xvithotit haxing to 
go to school. 

Lull Justice woukl not be tlone C'amp Perrx' withottt 
a lew words about the mtkl 1 he water finally xxent i.loxxn. 
but It rained pretty steadil>' tip tmtil the sccoiilI week in 



The lied (iiiidoii 




June. The ground was low an^l soggy anJ mud soon huic 
the same relation to Camp [^errv that sand liad to El 
Paso. Boots finally came in lor all the Baitcr\mcn and 
they were the most uselnl things in camp, 1 he miKl was 
worst around the picket-lines and olUsilIc the gnard- 
hoLise : some ol the men ;icliiall\" sank up to their knees 
w hilc grooming horses. I here were a good many instances 
where, when the order "Cease grooming" came down, a 
Batteryman lotind himsell with unu stocking loot wa\"ing 
wildK' in the air, his hoot barely showing and held tight 
in the \ellow nuid. 1 he Battery street was slippery and 
treacherous; man\' a luckless indi\idual spoiled a nice 
clean uniform and lit on one ear while trying to get to 
the Top Sergeants tent. .As lor the guardhouse, there 
was a stanching joke about the corpmal of the giuuLl taking 
his relief around in a row boat 

Drilling ol recruits went meiiiU on ("haiiey L^ange 
filbert Cox, Alphonse FalarLJeau, "Spick" Woodwar^l 
jack Wise ancH George Bruner entered the list of ^Inll- 
master and they taught the "rookies" loot-drill m the 
mess-hall, gun-drill ant.1 equitation Equitation included 
the usual amount of monke>-drill and monkey-dnll was 
just as heartily hated as m the okl days. As for the 
Battery itself, it was pretty tough sledding at this period. 
So many men were on special duty, drilling recruits, etc.. 



that there wci\nt man\' old pri\ates kit 1 he\' were 
doing kitchen police one da\', stables the ne\l and guard 
the next 

I hen the\ had a ^lay off and in this da>' of rest, all 
thc\ ha^l to do was to exercise the horses that were not 
being used, water all the horses, in Eake Erie, help feed 
them, and go out on a few odd details. Pretty solt! ' ' 

.'\ War Department order came out in June, raising 
the pa\' of enlisted men in the army I he btick pri\ates 
pay was doubled from litteen dollars a month to the 
stupendous sum ol thiit\ : and to offset this and take all 
the joy out ol lile again, two more orders came in at the 
same time. The first forbade the wearing ol ci\ilian 
clothes and anything other than the ficld-scr\ ice unilorm 
tor the Lluration of the war. The second was a terrible 
catastrophe -lorbn_lding the sale of "all alcoholic drinks 
to soldiers, or men in uniforhi ' for a like perioLl I here 
wasn t an\ getting arotind it, and it looked to the battery- 
men as if It would soon be a case of "lots ol i.lough anLl no 
place to spend it." 

(Juile a lew fellows got two and three-day passes to 
.'\kron an^l many trips were made to Port Clinton, C^ak 
Harbor and ToIclIo Registration Da> for the first dralt 
came on June nli. It was a big thing, and interest was 
widespread as to just how the country would take it. 



'ihc lied (iiiidon 



l\ni 



C .).) 




Major Bush anticipatcvl some ti'rul^lc, lor ht stnt an 
armed guard to tht- towns of Poit Clinton and Uak 
Harbor. The guarLl howexcr came back and reported 
a \ery quiet da\ 

An Official \ isitor's &s.\ was Lleclared en June Kith 
Sunda\ , and the Camp f^erry (lubhouse on the Lake 
was thrown open to the men an^l their relatnes an^i 
friends. It was quite a stiecess irom e\er\ point ol \ lew 
as nearl\ e\ery man in tlie [battalion had somebody up 
there to see him 

The majority ol the \isitors came by train although 
quite a number motored up Irom (de\ eland, Columbus 
ani.1 Akron And the "okl timers ate the cake that their 
sisters brought up and tokl them about the border: uhile 
the "rookies' munched candy anLl showe^l Aunt 5arah 
how well the\' could do an about lace and loiward n'.arch 

lor the first time there were little or no rumors attend- 
ant upon mo\ ing as there was no iro\e expected so it was 
a big surprise when n-o\ ing oixlers came on the 2.Sth of 
June, and the afternoon ol the l^^h av three ncloLk the 
Batter\ entrained for Fort Benjamin Harrison Ind 

CHAPTHR \ I! 

Ab the tram rattle^l thn tigh the ^larkness that night. 
It was practicalK a new batter\ that sat m the 
da\-coaches and played cards, read magazines and sang 
Se\enty per cent ol the old Border Batterxmen had left, 
and their jr^laees had been taken by the reertuts who came 
in at Camp F-^erry A lot ol new non-commissioned 
oflicers had been made, Carl l\a\enagh was still first 
sergeant and the section chiefs linei.1 tip this way First 
Section. Sergeant Hollenbeek: Second section. Sergeant 
Kneff ; Third section, Sergeant Wise; Fourth section 
Sergeant Greene: Filth section. Sergeant 1 losbaek, and 
Si.xth section. Sergeant Lange Pearl Wood was sup- 
ply sergeant, Joe I\ell\, stable sergeant, and Ralph 
Curr\-, mess-sergeant. The batter\ on the border had 
a \er\ high personnel: o\er hall ol the men were college 
men and they were all good fellows, so that, when the 
old bunch left for training camps, the fust question that 
arose in the minds of those wb.o were left was, 'What 
kind ol men are we going to ha\e m the place of these 
who are lea\ing" The question was answered to the 
satisfaction of exerybociy l(.)r the men who came up 
from Akron were of the same t\pe and class as the men 
who had gone As the train crossed the state line between 
Ohio and Indiana there were man\ more new (aces than 
there were old ones, but it was B Batter\ and the per- 
sonnel was just as high as it e\er was 

Next morning there was a three hour lav-o\er and 



breaklan at Bellelontaine, Ohio I here were three pigs 
rooting in a plowed field nearby, btit the elenxnt of 
arithnxtie and subtraction enteretl into the ^ittiation, an^l 
when the train pulkxi out there were onl\ two pigs 

It wouldnt ha\e taken Sherlock: Holmes more than 
an hour to Lleduce that the missing pig hai.1 gone with 
B BatteiN' At least, that's what the farmer thought: 
and upon receipt of a rather irate letter from him ..lemanel- 
mg ironetary reparation, (he had lost all hope ol e\er 
getting the pig back') Major Bush conductCLl a \ery 
rigid in\ c-tigation asking each member ol the batter\ 
mdividualK if he had seen or had any knowledge of saii.1 
pig. shoat or hog. Nothing came ol it and "whr) 
swipeel the pig remains one ol the E^attery s unsoKed 
mysteries to this da\' 

1 he airnal at f-ort Harrison was at lour P .\ I on 
kine 311th. ap.el it was a case of hurry to get unloaded so 
that camp cnulel be made before dark 1 here was some 
trouble getting the horses to eamp as they had not been 
wateiwl lor 24 hours but e\ erything was fixeel tip tempor- 
ariK b\ eight o clock when the batter\- stood muster. 

I he next Llay was Sunda\' anel e\ery man was busy all 
day — digging post holes, erecting picket-lines, lining up 
the batter\' street and digging ditches around the tents 
Diel any thoughtful statistician e\er stop to figure out 
wh\ nine-tenths of the battery s mo\es always began or 
ended on Sunday ' There should be some kind of a 
reward for the first man who turns m the correct answer, 
Fhere was 'ro mtieh to elo that it was well into the exening 
before the men hael a chance to look around and see where 
the\ were anel what they were there lor 

I en miles from Indianapolis. Ind, on the Big I our 
railroael. was fort Benjamin Harrison .An f)lel arm\' 
post. It was \cr\ much like Fort Shei lelan wiih gra\ stone 
barracks, stables, etc, but the surrotinLlings were not 
nearK so prctt\ 

1 his being partK elue to the fact the old btiilelings were 
now onl\ the nucleus of the new camp, being built in a 
htirr\ b\ hundreds of carpenters, laborers, etc , to accom- 
moelate the men lrom()hio, Indiana, West Virginia, and 
a lew from Kentuck\, there lor the first Officers' I raining 
("amp So that the F'ort itself was onl\- a part of the 
camp bellow wooden builelings for sleeping e|uarters. 
mess halls, showers, etc , sprawled all over the land- 
scape There were two parts to the camp proper, separ- 
ated b\' a little ra\ me anel the\ soon became known as 
the Ohio camp and the Indiana eamp because of the 
fact the men Irom these two states were pretty well 
diMeled 1 he olel buildings of the F'ort were a part ol the 
latter in fact comprised the most ol it, and the Ohio camp 
w as all new , consisting of the hurriedly built barracks. 

At the far end ol the camp was the site selected for 
the Ohio Battalion and they soon found that provision 
had been made for taking care of e\erybod\' and e\er\- 
thing except the men who were to tram the student- 
cjfficers For them there was no barrackS: no mess-hall. 



The Red (iiiidon 



Pdijc 



,)/ 



no shower-baths — as one of the boys saiel "\'o, nothin 
It didn't worry them much; they had been at too many 
places where they had been forced to shift for themsehes, 
so once more the old pYramn.lal tents went up, and they 
pitched a camp of their own 

Next, they found out wliat the\ had come foi . hi 
brief, the Student Officers liad passed the preliminary 
stages of the game and were now specializing; those who 
had taken up the artillery end of the game had to ha\e 
horses, gtins, caissons, etc., t(j tram with an^l they had 
to have men to assist the instructors in training them; 
to show them what to do. 1 his was the new job ol the 
Ohio Field Artillerymen. It was something they had 
never cione, as they had been too bus\ learning themscK es 
to have time to teach anybody else. 

But they had succeeded in e\er\thing else and they 
meant to succeed in this' Ihey were assisted by three 
Batteries of the Indiana Field Artillery who mcncLl m 
beside Ohio a few days after, and a tentatixe regiment 
was formed with Major Bush acting as Colonel 

The Indiana Artillery remained at Ft. Ben for only 
three weeks so that the training of fncle Sam's Student 
Officers was left entirely to the I-irst Battalion on the 
Ohio Field Artillery. Three days after the batter\' s 
arrival at f-t. Ben the camp was in perfect order. 

On the morning of July 4th. a battalion section race 
was held between A, B and C batteries B Batter\ 
came oil the winner, establishmu an enviable time record. 
It was a big Independence [!)ay in the battery camp In 
the afternoon and evening most ol the men paid their 
fist \ isit to Indianapolis I hc\ ^.lanced at its two 
parks, Ri\ersn.le and Broad Ripple. I hey wandered 
around the "Circle." strollei.1 down to the ^. M C A 
and across the st;reet to the Hotel Linden, which 
hotel evcntualb became the downtown headc|uarters (.il 
the batterymen when m the cit\' and the scene ol many 
of their ga\ parties As the bo\'s wandered into the 
traction station that e\ening. the\ heard the call, w hich 
was afterward tt.) become so lamiliar to them. Ohio 
Camp Car." July 4th having been fittingly observed, 
the battery settled down to hard work. The davs were 
spent teaching luture officers the art of harnessing and 
driving teams, arm signals and other army exercises 
The students were taught the difference between the 
breech block and the muzzle of the gun an^l how to work 
a panoramic sight. 

Fvery evening lor about three weeks. "Boots and 
Saddles" was blown at six o'clock. The batterymen 
would harness up their teams and two hours would be 
spent in mountci-l drill. It was the batterv s first even- 
ing drill. I he drill field was west of the battery camp 
The field at ft, Ben was entirely covered by grass and 
was perhaps 1(100 yards square. Woods and hills sur- 
rounded It on three sides and the drivers had an op- 
portunity to work their teams over diificult terrain and 
to test their skill as horsemen. In the afternoons when 



the training students were not tising the horses the men 
would go out individually mounted and take long rides 
through the countrv. Farly in julv all men with mining 
experience were reciuested to report to the battalion 
commander. Lender the command of Private Bill Leahy, 
they were set to work digging gun pits. Bill Summers, 
Paul Dav IS and (\la Revnolds were numbered among the 
men who claimed to have had mining experience and 
for three weeks they labored, with pick and shovel, con- 
structing gun pits and dugouts. When the i^its were 
finished, two blank cartridges were fired m them, (rom 
a three-inch gun. This was to test the construction ol 
the pits to withstand concussion 1 he experiment w as 
entirely successful Then dummv guns. mai;le ol logs, 
carefully camouflaged, were placed in them and there 
was not a visitor, who seeing them lailed to remark 
hfn\ natural they looked 

lulv I ith was a big ^lav m the careers of otficcrs ol 
B [iattery and in fact the ofiicers of the entire regiment 
On that day almost everyone of them moved up a notch 
and in some cases two notches Although he had been 
acting m the capacity of Colonel lor some time, it was 
not until this day that Major Bush received his coirmis- 
sion It was dated back to May 4th. the time that he 
assumed his ^luties as (Colonel Captain .\lbrecht was 
advanced over the rank of Major and became Lieutenant 
Colonel of the regiment Lieutenant John-ton who had 
been acting batterv commander tor some time became 
Captain Johnston of B Battery .Second Lieutenant Kav- 
enagh was movcel up one place aixi became 1st Lietitenant 
Kavenagh of B Batterv. while the vacancy tluis made 
was filled bv' Sergeant John Wise who became 2nd Lieu- 
tenant Wise. Private Bill Leahv passed the Colonels 
examination satisfactorily and so became 2nd Lieutenant 
Ix-ahv Saturdav afternoons and Sundays brought 
ciowlIs of visitors from Indianapolis and the surroun^ling 
countrv, all eager to see and talk to the boys in camp. 

1 he artillerv prov e^l an especially attractive feature ol 
the camp, as a red hat-cord commanded attention every- 
where. Visitors would inquire of the boys how they like 
the armv , if thev were well fed and some asked for samples 
of the food The visitors became so numerous that tor 
a time it w<is necessary to post a mounted guarel on 
Sundav to keep the people from wandering all over the 
battery camp Three-dav' passes were being given the 
men and thev' were paying short visits to their homes 
The weather was ideal and manv of the relatives and 
friends of the boys were motoring over tiom Ohio to see 
them August ^th was an eventful day in the history ol 
B Battery and the old Ohio Field Artillery, tor on that 
day notice was received that all National Cuaid organ- 
izations were to be reclassified and renamed 1 htis old 
1st O, F, A. died and thereafier all mail was addressed to 
the I Uth F, A of which B flattery was a part I'he first 
officers training camp was drawing to a close and its 
members presented the battery with several cartons ol 



The Red (iitidon 



Page M) 



cigarettes and boxes of cigars as a token ol their apprecia- 
tion for what the battery had done for them Some of 
the men who recei\'ed commissions in this lirst camp, 
later came to the battery as its officers. August 1 ''th 
found the first officers training camp closed and the Fort 
practically deserted. On August 22th Major General 
Cjlenn re\ lewed the Ohio F-icld Artillery 

From the closing of the first training camp until the 
opening of the second the men had the use of the horses 
and material e\ery day, and e\ery day found them on 
the drill field doing "Battery right" or "Battery left" 
taking up positions and simulating actual warfare On 
August 28th the battalion hiked to Greenfield, Indiana, 
and returned the next day. 

In the early part of Septemhei' the Regimental Bancf. 
under Gaptain Snow and [ianLlleai.ler Long, on its \\a\ to 
Gamp Sheridan, stopped at bt Ben. and for one morning 
the boys hopped quickh' out ol their bunks to music 
Gomments were made on the lun it would be to get up in 
the miorning after the band came to 5ta\- A few weeks 
later the men did ha\'e the band to help them out of bed 
e\ery morning but there was no noticeable change when 
it came to climbing out of the hay at 5,30 A,\I, On 
September 14th twenty-six recruits for the batteiA arri\ed 
from Siher Lake, Ohio, where they hai.1 been in training 
for several weeks. I he new men were: L^ick Thomas. 
Hal Grossman. Lester Deselms. George Gapron. Bob 
Riden. Billy Lenihan. I Lib Lamiell. Llrnest [iilmer, 
Lritz Gunningham, (George RcolI, John ( )gier, Da\e 
Smith, l^ick La\er\, lirritt San^lers, \lai.k Bausman 
Harry Williams, Lrank Werner, |imm\ Jameson, Lewis 
Bush. Lewis Oesaussure Aleck McLceley. Jedge \la;on. 
Bill Rogers. Mack Sharp, Glyde 'I'ilton, and Reed '^'orke\-. 

Gorporal W' \' [^unn was placed in charge of them 
assisted by R. G. Thompson. Henr\ York, William iNson 
and George Cjrimm, I hey receixe^l the u^ual recruit 
drill and in four weeks were turncel <ner to the battery, 
1 he Second Officers 1 raining Gamp openeei on September 
15th and Sergeant W, O, Wallace and (Corporal W'cndell 
Norris left to join. Once mf)re the battery began in- 
structing the student officers, .m^l a lew da>'s after the 
opening of the training camf^, the loth U, S [Meld Artil- 
lery moved in to aid the Lirst Ohio in their work of 
making officers. 

Learning the>' were to be associatCLl with a National 
Guard outfit the Regulars became \er\- in^lignant 
Their top sergeant, however, had been w ith the Sth F-^, A 
on the Mexican border and knew the okl ( )hio outfit and 
what it was. He informed the men m his batterv' that if 
the\' could begin to compare w ith the Lirst Ohio F ,\, 
they would be good. Events prove^l him right Out on 
the drill field the Ohio batteries diilleLl; went into action 
and executed limbers front and rear with a speed that 
fairly dazzled the lOth Regtilars 1 hey could not begin 
to imitate it All they were able to do was to stare. I he 
Ohio National GLiard, now known as the .37th Division, 



was being assembled at Gamp Sheridan. .Alabama, under 
the command of Major General Gharles G 1 reat and the 
Lisual moving rumors began to circulate in B Batterv- 
First orders were received late in September lor the 
battery to move but after everything was ready and the 
orders were countermanded. The men were still living 
m pyramidal tents an^l as the weather was becoming ct)ld 
they were anxious to move. 1 he shower baths w ere in 
the open and a bath became a painful operation Most 
of the men made it a point to go to the ^'. M, G A, in 
Indianapolis where a hot bath and plunge could be had 
for the asking. It was over three months since the 
battery arrived in FT. E5en. It ha^l been a goo^l camp 
and the men enjoyed their play and work. Indianapolis 
was one of the best cities the batterv' ever saw. Some ol 
the men met their future wives there but the okl. old 
wandering spirit was upim the bovs an^l thev were anxious 
to be on their way. 

Finally on tXttiber ^^th. orders were reeeue^l to pnieeCLl 
to Gamp Sheridan and join the rest ol the Ohio F^iv ision 
The usual work preparator>- to moving was gone through. 
The batterv' left Fort Benjamin Harrison on the 12th 
Ihe last night there was but a repetition of tlu last night 
in Gamp Willis. The entire batterv' went to town to 
celebrate ani.! say gocKl-b\e to their frien^ls I or the la't 
time the men (.laneetl and strolled around the ( jrelc; to 
the "l' M (' .\ , an^l then over to the Linden Hotel 
Ihey were all there It was the last night and they were 
determined to make the best ol it Ihe three A .\I. 
"Ohio Gamp" car louiul B Battery there strong It was 
a wearv bunch that tumbkxl off at the big canteen at 
Gamp an hour later, but thev di^l not bother to sleep the 
rest of the night It was cuki and a light sn<iw was tailing 
so thev sat arouixl the big lire and swapped yarns, .At 
noon the next i.lav-. LrKlav', ( Vtolx-r 12th. the battery 
pulled out boun^l lor \ li )nt,gomerv-, Alabama, 

Ihe batterv that pulkxl into Ft. Ben on June 5()th hael 
been made ol recruits Ihe batterv' that oeeupieel the 
tourists sleepers as thev pulle^.l otit of Lt. Ben was a 
veteran one. Ihe men were disciplmeel an^l elnllei.1 to a 
point of high efficiencv' Ihe men smokei.1. leatl, playe^l 
cards and sang Holton Lori-I, bred Fxner, Bill Sehmok. 
Paul Flav IS and Martin Glasgow played their mandolins, 
guitars and ukeleles Mutt l^ausman. "Skeets" Werner. 
"'Lub" Lamiell. Larry F-etch. and lommv I'lmmpson 
sang, Louisville. Kv' . was reached that night abotit 
eight o'clock later, F^ow ling Green antl the next dav at 
noon the train pulkxl into Nashv ille, Tenn .A lour huurs 
stop was made there in order to feed an^l water the horses 
The drivers were lined up ani;l uixler tlie command ol 
F^ieutenant Leahv , thev' started out to lini.1 the stoekvards, 
A march of about a mile i:lown the main street ol the 
city brought them to the Tennessee River Ihe men 
admired the scenery and took pictures while the ollicers 
looked around for the stockyards, Ihe men lined up, 
marched back to the station and from there went m na- 



PdfIC (if) 



The lied (iiiidoii 



other direction to the stockyards. Alter ha\ in;^ spent 
about two hours marching arounel the eit\, the \ards 
and water tanks were finally found It was also (ounel 
that the employees had taken care of the batterv' stock 
I he men were then dismissed with orders to report to 
the train at lour o clock I hey wandered all o\er the 
city some to the (Capitol Buildint;;, others to restaurants 
to "Jungle up and many spent the time snapping pic- 
tures. When the\- reported back to the train at foLir 
o'clock every man in the battery seemcLJ to ha\e done 
one thing — found a girl. 

Lieutenant Ka\'enagh looked them o\ cr and exclaimed, 
"Oh. Lord' And it only took them two hoLirs' What 
would happen if we stayed all night ^' A short distance 
from the tram there was a large factory an^l the boys 
risked life and limb climbing o\er freight curs an^l upon 
sheds to talk to the dear 
factory girls. I he train 
pulled out about fi\'e o'clock 
with Birmingham. .\la . 
scheduled as the ne.\t stop 
for Sunday mornin.g Octo- 
ber 14th 

The part ol the bouth 
through w hic h the train 
passed pioxclI a Llisappoint- 
ment tn the men Instead 
of a lanLl of sLinshme and 
flowers thecduntiA showed 
nothing but a lIuII rci^ldish 
sand, coxciclI w ith lanf; un- 
dergrowth. while an occa- 
sional cabin sc|uatted 
along the railroa^l I he 

towns were lew and far Ixtwccn When the men awol-.e 
on SuntiaN' morning about si.\ o clock the tram ha^l 
stopper! 1 he soldiers looked slowly around am.! then 
hopped out of their berths. The next stop was supposed 
to ha\ c been Birmingham yet there was the train in the 
midst of a big arm> camp and on a sign-board were the 
words "Ihrce .\lilcs to Montgomery" bor a lew 
minutes an animatci.1 ^liscussion was carried on I he\ 
could hardily bclic\c they had passed [iirmin.Liham and 
reache^l (.amp .^herKlan, \et such was the case. 1 he 
battery ha^l reached the place that was to be its home 
for the next nine months 




c 



Chapter \'l 1 1 

'WIP Shciidan was situated northeast of the City of 
Montgomery It was built on old cotton plantations 
and the outfits that had arri\'ed before the first battalion 
of the 134th 1-. A. had spent many weary weeks digging 
and grubbing out cotton stalks. The country around had 
been the scene of the first field acti\ities of the C^onfederate 
Army m INhl. Di\ isional Headquarters were at Pickett 
.Springs, the place from which Cjcneral Pickett ha^l issuei.1 



his call for \olunteers to defend the Confederacy of the 
South 

In the center of the camp la>- the old Alabama State 
fair groun^ls with its mammoth exhibition hall (later 
made into a theatre and recreation hall for the Ohio men). 
Its \arious show buildings, its cattle pens and stables. 
Around the field ran the mile race track where Dan Patch 
had once made a record of 1 ^^-, On these grounds the 
troops, who answered General Pickett's call, received 
their first arm\' training. Radiating from the fair grounds 
spread the camp The mess-halls, showers and stables, 
the men sleeping in the tents with floors and side-walls. 
Half an hour after the train pulled into the yards the 
place was seething with activity. The men ate breakfast 
and the work of unloading began. The unloading plat- 
form was large enotigh to accommodate all the box, fiat. 

and stock cars at one time, 
and in a \ery short time 
the train was unloaded. 

The entire b2nd Field 
Artillery Brigade was at 
the siding to "see a reg- 
ular outfit work " and they 
saw — according to the 1st 
Ohio men. I ruck Com- 
pany Number 48, the same 
that had met the battery 
on the border and at I't. 
Ben Harrison was on the 
lob again to assist in mov- 
ing from the siding to 
the camp site. By this 
time the entire camp must 
ha\e been out. for the 
roLite was Imc^i with soklicrs The first sight of the 
l^lacc pickc^l lor B Batter\ camp was enough to sicken 
the stoutest heart. 1 he gun park was in the mii.ldle of a 
cotton field; running across the proposed battery street 
was a drainage ditch about eight feet deep, and the place 
where tents were to go was piled high with dirt. Boxes, 
barracks bags, mess kits and e\erything that goes to 
make up a battery was scattered around just as it was 
dumped oft the trucks. 

To make things worse, the heat was intense and the 
dust choking. But there was no chance to sit around 
and get melancholy; the okl pick and sho\el that hai.1 long 
been in storage came out. The junk that littered the 
place was piled up and the men started to move the state 
of Alabama. 'I wish the\ had put this state where they 
wanted it in the first place," the boys said. All morning 
the men carried dirt, leveling a spot here, filling up a hole 
there. In the afternoon the tents were set up and by 
fi\-e o'clock the street was in order. The gun park was in 
the rear, then the picket lines, latrine, bath house, battery 
street and. at the hea^l of the street, the mess-hall. Across 
the roa^l were the tents of the officers, in the rear of which 



The Ri'd (liiidon 



Page iU 



was the regimental Inliimary From there a fiekl streteheel 
away to the warehouse and railroad tracks. 

The Battery was lined up about fi\e o'eloek and the 
rules and regulations go\"erning the camp ani.1 suiiounding 
country, including the city ol Montgomery, were read to 
them. The principal order forbade the wearing of 
leather puttees m the city of Montgomery. Leather 
putts had long been the pride an^l joy of the batterymen. 
When the order was read their spirits took a big slump 
and they decided to register a protest against the order 
by going to town that e\ening with leather putts on. 
They went. nearK' half the batters', hut the\' didn't stay 
long. The\" ha^l hardly stepped off the cars when the 
M. P. got bus>-. .A lew of the weaker sisters grabbed 
taxis and beat it hack to camp. Some were in favor of 
doing battle with the M. P. but the decision agreed upon 
was to quietly submit to arrest and in this way register 
a protest against the order. Before the evening was o%'er 
they had all paid a \isit to .\1. P. Headquarters. 

The next day, everyone who was implicated in the 
trouble the night before was called before Colonel Bush. 
Out of 1p2 men who had been arrested m town, 82 were 
from B Battery. 1 he men were gi\ en a lecture but this 
was one occasion on which the Colonel did not mean 
everything his ollice required him to sa\' lie seemed 
anxious to see the hoys wear leather putts, but as some 
disciplinary action was required, the entire crowd was 
confined to camp for thirty days khis conlmemcnt was 
lifted in about two weeks. 

A day or so after the battery's arrixal in camp, an 
exhibition drill was gi\en by the first Battalion on the 
field behind the infirmary for the Second Battalion, and 
the 135th and 1 3tith Regiments. The battery had done 
exhibition work for student officers but on this da\- they 
determined to out-do their previous work. Men. horses 
and equipment were polished and shining when the battery 
trotted out on the field. The spectators were lined up 
along the edge ol the field and for two hours the battery- 
men went through the maneu\ ers. L p to the very edge 
of the field, in a battery line, they woukl sweep and iust 
as the crowd began to scatter, a signal for right or left 
flank would be gixen and they would be off in another 
direction. Captain J. j. Johnston was in command of the 
battery on this occasion, and the work of the battery 
was of the highest order. The next lew weeks were busy 
ones for the battery. They had come to C^amp Sheridan, 
not to train future officers as at f't. lien, but to train 
future enlisted men m the P2nd Brigade. 

The b2nd Brigade of the 37th Division was composed 
of the 134th. 1 35th and 1 3Pth regiments, the 1 12th Trench 
Mortar Battery and the 112th Ammunition and Supply 
Trains. Of these, the f-drst Battalion, A, B, and f^. Bat- 
teries of the 134th were the only outfits with full equip- 
ment and the rest ol the brigade depended on them for 
what they didn't have. It is true that some of the other 
batteries had dummy guns made of logs and mounted on 



cart wheels but these could scarcely be called materiel 
The first Battalion started to teach the rest of the Brigade 
the intricacies of harnessing and drixing, the working, of 
the three-inch field piece and the care of horses and 
materiel. It was somewhat of a relief for B Battervmen 
to ha\e some one else clean their harness. 

The Battery camp meanw hile was being put into shape. 
Fdoors and sidewalls for the tents arrived and were put in 
A bridge was placed across the ditch and the street 
gradetl and drained 

AL->out this time several of the oflieers that the battery 
had trained at Ft, Ben arrived in camp and three of them. 
Lieutenants Mays. Scroggs and Cdieney, were assigned to 
the Battery, Those who graded the street under I^ieu- 
tenant Mays' direction will never forget the incident, nor 
the time Mays set out lour stakes in the field and made 
the Battery march around them lor an hour as a discip- 
linary measure Towards, the miLldle of November the 
other outfits in the Brigade hecame lairK proficient as 
artillerymen, A drill schedule was posted and each 
battery in the brigade had the use of the iiorses and 
materiel one day a week 

1 he field on which the Battery's exhibition drill was 
hekl wciuld have answered all the requirements of a drill 
field f-lowe\er, the ofiicers of the 135th and 1 3wh 
Regiments needed recreation and had made it into a polo 
field On the one day in the week when the Battery 
used the horses and materiel, the men would go alxiut a 
mile back of camp and drill on an old cotton field. After 
hu\ mg spent one day at drill on this field the men were 
all thanklul thev' did not get to use the materiel more than 
once a week I he cannoneers were especially fervent in 
their thanksgiving On days when the Battery did not 
use the materiel the men took hikes through the woods 
and along the banks of the Tallapoosa River which ran 
a mile or more back of camp. Every day brought fatigtie 
Lletails ol one kind or another, most of them of the good 
old pick and shovel varietv fhe roads which men of 
B Batterv' helped construct in f'amp Sheridan would have 
done credit to the army of Caesar. 

Stables were erected towaivl the end of November and 
nearlv every day, from then until the following June, 
li:)und details grading the stables. 

.\ lontgomerv'. the capital of Alabama, had been the 
heart of the South and the hotbed of the Confederacy 
during the Civil War. Jefferson [3av is had lived there. 
In the capuol building, a star marked the place on which 
he stnotl when he took the oath of office as President of 
the South and the C~ity ha^l been the first capital of the 
Conlederaev'. 1 he Lnu)n .\rmv ha^l taken the citv', 
advancing on it along the tipper an^l lower W'etumpka 
roads and the camp site of the 37th Division marked the 
spot w here one ol the battles for its possession was fought. 
When the people ol the city Iearnec4 that an army camp 
was to be established near by they were disturbed by the 
news. But the Ohio troops moved in. went to the citv 



Page (yJ 



The lied (hiidou 



anJ bchu\xxl ihcmseK cs. In a lew wccki. the men uere 
weleome xisitors anel the cit\ was endeavoring to show 
Its hospitalit\- 1 he Reel Cross anel Knights of Cokimhus 
ga\'e dances. 

I he men became ace(Liainted with the Southerners 
and were in\ itcd to \Iontgomer\ Montgomery homes 
were opened to the Ohio soldiers I here were places of 
amusement in the eit\ SLich as Max's Coca Cola cabaret, 
Harrys Lating Place, 1 he Sheridan C^Jiib and others, 
where tiic soldiers could flock Saturday afternoons and 
Sunelays for a little dixersion. To properly co\er B 
Battery s experiences at Camp Sheridan some mention 
should be made of the Montgomery street car system. 
particularK that branch ol the system that was operated 
between Camp Sheridan and the city of Montgomery. 
The car line the boys had to depend upon to a great 
extent was a one-track affair o\er which the traction 
company operated cars whenexer the weather was nice 
and the power plentiful. George Reed and Ocla Reynolds 
Liseel to Start for Montgomery with lunch m their pockets 
which they ate on the ear at one o\ the numerous tie-up 
switches along the line to the eit\ 1 he cars were old- 
fashioned single truckers that squeaked whenexer a 
passenger got on or oil. And hoxx those cars exer carried 
soldiers that used to pile onto them still remains a mystery. 
1 he conductors used to make the price of a nexx ear on a 
round trip 

1 he jitney serxiee between the camp and city xvas a 
caution. A soldier going to the citx', xxhile the cars xxere 
running, could ride in a jitnex' bus for a L|uartcr If he 
stayed in toxxn until alter the last car left for camp, the 
trip home in a jitney bus set him back anxwhere from 
twentx-f'ix'e cents to two dollars, depending upon the 
hnur L-)oys from the .Alabama hills, who nexer before 
hael seen as much as a txxo dollar bill, became .Alabama 
millionaires in the jitnex' business 



The Battery enjoxed a happx Ihanksgixing Day at 
Camp Sheridan There was a Thanksgiving dinner with 
tLirkex' and all the trimmings The officers spoke after 
dinner and told the boys they were a bunch of soldiers, 
etc., etc. Johnny Funk dressed in a South Sea Island 
dancing costume gave a hula hula dance on the table and 
Paul Daxis and Martin Glasgow strummed some plaintixe 
airs on their ukeleles. R. C. Fhompson led the famous 
Hamburg show song. 

Winter arrixed after 1 hanksgiving and xxhile it wasn't 
an Ohio winter the weather grew cold enough to warrant 
the building of stables for the horses. Colored hammer 
and saxv men adxanced toward the Battery picket lines 
from the direction of the I3bth regiment and built a 
stable a day The colored boys used to beat ragtime 
harmonx on the nails as thex droxe them into the roofs 
of the stable buildings and the battery soldiers used to 
stand around during grooming hour to watch them. 
With the new stables came horses for the rest of the 
Brigade and the first Battalion men were given complete 
charge of their own horses. About this time the Sheridan 
Reveille, Camp Sheridan's dailx' newspaper appeared in 
camp and Prixate George Harris of the Battery was 
detailed to run the press for the paper at a salary of 
twentx'-eight dollars a week. This has always been 
considered the best detail anybody in B Battery ever got 
in on. Stable Sergeant Joe Kelly reported news and 
gags for the paper for the oZnd Artillery Brigade. The 
first army Christmas for the majority of B Battery 
soldiers xvas approaching xxhen the Sheridan Reveille 
announced the whole Dixision xvas to be alloxved fur- 
loughs home tor the holidays. 

The furlough story was printed on authority from 
General Treat, commanding the camp, but the hopes of 
the boxs xxere doomed, for soon the war department 
announced that oxxing to the shortage of railroad cars 




llif Red (riiidon 



PdiJC (hi 



and so on. it woliU be impossible to eart tlic men to unel 
trom Ohio. In the meantime man\' o[ tlie men haei v\ireJ 
lor and had received money for transportation home and 
as it ttirned out most of this coin went to Mont;j,omery 
for holiday celebrations f-'arents. w i\es anei sweethearts 
of the men came down to \ lont,L!omcr\- in trainloads 
however, and there wasn't a man in 1-^ Battery who 
i^lidn't receive two or three boxes ol Irtiit cake, candy and 
i.tlier Christmas cheer lo B Battery came presents 
Irom the Akron Chamber of Commerce. The American 
Red Cross and W. A. Johnston and citizens of Barberton 
It was almost impossible during Christmas week to walk 
into a Battery tent without runninf; into an invitation 
to sit clow n anci eat some cake or something 

Six men. John Heimel. C T. Bowen, Elbert Cox. 
William Holiman, Fred Exner ani.1 Homer Eckert were 
given kirloughs to go home for their ("hristmas presents 
They went home and got marrKvl anel celebrated a real 
Christmas. One of the things that m a way took the boys 
back to Ohio that Christmas was the arrival of the 
"Christmas Special" train from C^okimbus with Governor 
C"ox. Henrv' Schlagel. and f~haiicv t^cnner and several 
others from Akron A big review was hekl in honor ol 
the governor and the other visitors who hael lelt home to 
celebrate the week v\ith the Ohio volunteers in the South 

A big reception and get-together party in the C'olisetim 
at Camp Sheridan. Governor Cox tokl the boys he had 
brought the seasons greetings to the ?7th Division from 
the Soldiers and Sailors' Home in ( 'hio ,\ resolution 
conveying to the old soldiers anel sailors the same greetings 
was adopted bv' the soldiers amiel wikl cheering The 
Batterv' camp for once was thrown open Id visitors with 
the result that relatives ol the bovs then m Monlgomcrv 
were given the opportunitv to make a close inspection 
ol the Batterv C'arnp. Kenna Bailsman, Larrv' Fetch, 
Dick I homas. Atlee Wise. C^lvde Eamiell anel others 



entertameel their i^aients anel Irienels at the Battery's 
Christmas dinner. 

Colonel Bush. Captain Johnston. Lieutenant Kavenagh. 
Lieutenant Leahv and Lirst Sergeant Mike C.jreene made 
speeches at this dinner And Lieutenant K'avenagh. 
risking his reptitation, asked the battervmen to give 
three cheers lor Btish an^l the boys came across. No one 
else but Kavenagh couLI have put that over In connec- 
tion with the C^hristmas dinner it ma\ be noted that Vic 
Gumther, Martin Shere, an^l Bill Summers were on 
kitchen police and had to eat at the "secon^l table" as 
they say in Canton. O. 

Shortly alter Christmas there was some kini.1 of a 
strange epidemic among the parents and relatives of the 
Batterv- soldiers in Ohio and other places The epidemic 
began about the time one or two of the men got leaves home 
to visit parents who reallv' were ill. Of a sudden every- 
body got worel from home that someone was dving and 
to come home right awav' " The situation became so 
bael that the wires Irom home had to be temporarilv' 
Ignored while the boys waiteel their turns to go home. 
Prettv" nearlv' everv man m the Batterv who Wcinte^l to 
go home was given a furlough before the Batterv left 
.Alabama 

I he next thing that happened in C'amp Sherielan 
brought sorrow to the hearts of the llappers, and other 
soldiers whose wardrobes, until this time, hael always 
been large and complete .An oreler that all boxes, 
trunks, suitcases and other luggage trappings be sent 
home or burneel was reael to the Battery. Taylor Haller. 
HaroLl Moock. |ohn Downey. Strauel Jackson, anel others 
with SIX anel eight uniforms and three or lour pairs of sox 
lor each loot eliein t fnow hc)w the\ were ^ver going to 
cram all then stull into a barrack bag. "Piettv soon 
they 11 tiike awav our barrack bags saiel Iiarl Youngs 
little knowing how soon Battel vmen woukl turn in their 



■s^^. 



'dWi 





^.if-^J 






.ifi*'"''- 



The Red Guidon 



Page 65 



barrack bags. Contrary to the Ohio custom, the battery- 
men played their football in midwinter. The games 
before anci after Christmas created great interest among 
the officers and men ol the regiment 1 here were nine 
B Battery men on tlic regimental team and the outfit 
was a w inner all through the championship season. 

The first firing by the [battery since leaving the border 
took place )anuar\ 2ith 1 he firing Batterx' was com- 
posed ol non-commissioned officers o( the Brigaele. 
Sergeant Bowen an^l Sergeant L\nch, Corporal Verne 
Ritter and Corporal Louis Iscnman were chiefs of section 
anc"l gunner corporals lor the hirst an^l Second sections. 




The last day of January saw the first bunch of Battery- 
men lca\c for o\'erseas scr\ ice, 1 larry Williams, Joe 
Schriner, bdwarcl Carson, Wagner, (".lycle Creveling and 
Dan Jensen left to become members of the A. E. \'. motor 
transportation service. These men were all skilled 
mechanics and in accor^lance with the go\ernment's plan 
to place men where they would be most useful, these men 
were taken away. I he boys w ere all liked by the men 
in the Battery who regretted to see them go. 

The Battery as a unit did its first firing at Sheridan, 
February 2nd. The new men were nervous and excitcLl 
while the olci border boys stood nonchalanth' around an^l 
told how they used to "do it on the Mesa." II the old 
border men were not nervous, the old borLler horses 
were, and two of them, "Molly" and "Smoke" ran away 
that first day. 

The weather, which through the months ol ncccmber 
and January was cokl. now startCLl to warm up Shrubs 
and flowers came into bloom an^l the countr\sulc was 
beautiltil The horse-back rides throtigh the woo^ls und 
along the i"i\cr were a source ol enj()\ment to the men 
About e\ery ten days the Batter\ woukl go to the range 
to fire. The rest of the time was spent exercising 
horses. On the iHh of lebrtiaiA, Captain Johnston was 
called to I't. Sill to take a course gixen all Battery ci)m- 
manders at the School ol hire there 1 his left Lieuten- 
ant Karl Kavenagh in commanLl of the liatter\. an 
office which he filled until he too was called to the School 
of Fire 



A peculiar accident, the like of which perhaps has 
never been known in army history took place about the 
middle of February. The horses and limbers of Battery 
r^, I ^4th r. A. were struck by lightning while on the 
range. One man and six horses were killed. Four men 
and many other horses severely injured. Lieutenant 
Colonel Albrecht. Lieutenant i\neff. Lieutenant Woodward 
and Corporals Don, Northrup, Louis Isenman, Verne Rit- 
ter and others were at the range at the time of the accident 
and assiste^l in caring for the men and quieting the horses. 
The souxcnir craze suddenly struck the Battery at 
this time and e\'er\' Stinday crowds of the men would go to 
the range in search of shell and shrapnel noses. Chief 
.Mechanic Earl Hageman, his assistants, Mark Dreese. 
St rauLl Jackson and E^ill Butcher were among the collect- 
ors. So was Walter X'aughn, Russ Lathomar, Guy Price 
and James Hogtie. A pistol range was being built back 
on the oLl drill lickl unJ one afternoon the Battery took 
Its turn m the construction of it. .\ major from the 1 12th 
Engineers was in charge. He hatl a facial camoufiage in 
the form of a beard that wouLl ha\'e done credit to Rip 
\ an Winkle and he did rag the boys. One day while on 
the way back to camp from the range with Lieutenant 
C'henex m charge, a prett\- stilt pace was being stepped 
ofl "W h\' lIoii t \()U double time'" yelleel Vic Guinthcr 
"lxitter\ attention'" came the command, "l3)ouble time, 
March'" an^l Irom BngaLlc 1 leai_lL|tiarters to the Battery 
street the boys i^loublc-timc.! 

March came and with it two hours of calisthenics anel 
marching e\cry afternoon. In the evening men wrote 
letters, went to shows at the Coliseum and on occasions, 
marched over to attend lecttircs. Colonel Bush, who had 
been to the Artillery school at I't Sill, returned on the 
l.'th of March, and a barbecue promoted by first 
sergeants of the 123rd regiment, was given in his honor 
behiuLl the gun-park. Sergeant Bob Barrington was 
master of ceremonies ani.1 the men "jungled" on barbe- 
cuclI bed. lowartl the latter 
part of .March an^l throtigh .Ap- 
ril, the Divisional field man- 
euvers were practiced. The Bat- 
tery took up a position, the de- 
tail strung wire Irom the 
"Doughboy" trenches to the 
Battery and the cit\ of Mont- 
gomery was theoretically at- 
tackcel and capturcLl 

Early in April a plan to 
serve the Battciv mess at the 
mess hall tables was begun: st) 
much food for each section was 
placed in pans on the tables be- 
fore the Battery arrived lor 
J Jliiylli mess. This mctho^l might have 

^gm^igli^l^if^ worked all right in a young ladies' 

^^^^"^ seminarv, but in the Battery it 




tmmdm% 




Page 66 



The Red Guidon 



failed to register. Small sections like the Sixth and 
Ninth got all they could eat while in other sections there 
was not enough. Added to this, "first come, first served" 
became the rule so that a man three minutes late would 
get nothing to eat. This system was abandoned after a 
few weeks" trial. 

Having completed his course at Ft. Sill by this time 
Captain Johnston returned for duty and was assigned to 
D Battery of the second battalion v\here Colonel Bush 
claimed there was a need of some old time discipline. 
This left B Battery without a Captain, but Lieutenant 
Kavenagh was hurriedly dispatched to the school at Ft. 
Sill to take the necessary training to assume the duties 
of "skipper." This put Lieutenant Leahy in charge of the 
Battery and for a few weeks B Battery had only three 
officers. 

April 6th, the first anniversary of the L'nited States 
entry into the war, was marked by a big parade in Mont- 
gomery. Atlee Wise was all dressed up for the occasion 
but his horse laid down on him and spoiled his part in 
the days' program. 

Recollections of border days were brought to some of 
the men when in the middle of the month, glanders was 
discovered among the horses of the 1 12th Engineers in a 
neighboring camp. Nine new guards posts were added 
around the stables and all horses were gi\cn the moline 
test. They were carefully watched hut no s\mptoms of 
the disease were found among the artillery horses 

Baseball was coming into popularity- and a \ery 
interesting game one Sunday catised them to be late for 
stables. The Battalion commander learning of it, con- 
fined the men to camp for thirty days, but, three days 
later, he lifted the ban. Major General Chas. G. Treat 
who had been in command of the 37th Division since its 
arrival was relieved on April 24th and uent to the Western 
Department. Brigadeer General William Smith of the 
b2nd Artillery Brigade became temporary commanding 
officer and shortly before the Division's departure for 
France, Major General William A. Fransworth was 
appointed commander of the Division 

Midnight on May 2nd the Battery answered its first 
fire call in Camp Sheridan The large forage piles at the 
fair grounds caught fire and the resulting loss to the 
Government amounted to fifty thotisand dollars. The 
men fell in in the Battery street that night in all stages 
ol dress and undress. Dick Thomas wore pajamas, a 
slicker and hob-nailed shoes, and A. 'V, Ritter carried his 
breeches on his arm. The Battery was to be held in 
reserve in the street but through some misunderstanding 
they were marched over to the fire only to find the\- had 
arrived too late. 

During the first of May when all rumors of the regi- 
ment's going overseas began to asstune more semblance 
of the truth, Lieutenant Leahy was sent to Ft. Sill also 
to take a course in observation as practiced in Europe. 
With the departure of the acting Battery commander 



the responsibilities were shifted to the shoulders of 
Lieutenant George Curtin. Lieutenant Curtin's admin- 
istration will be best remembered by his attempt to re- 
\-olutioni2e the routine of stable duty, when prizes were 
offered for the cleanest looking row of stalls. 

Furloughs which had been coming through for the 
Batterymen since the first of the year, were suddenly 
stopped. Mutt Bausman, Skeets Werner, Don Cochran, 
Verne Clark and Bill Murphy were all ready to leave for 
Ohio when word was received the furloughs were dis- 
continued. With the end of the furloughs, rumors began. 
The Division was going o\'er according to the rumors and 
everyday brought new stories as to how, when and where. 

It was worth while to pause long enough in this history 
to record the feelings of the men when it became certain 
that the Battery was going across. The men in the old 
Battery had enlisted to fight Mexico but instead they 
spent their time grooming horses and drilling on the border. 
The men of the new Battery had enlisted to fight Germany 
and expected to go over here. They had been moved 
from camp to camp and in place of fighting Germany 
they were training others to do it. As the months went 
by and there was no sign of going across the men became 
dejected. The morale took a slump. With the coming 
of the rumors about leaving for "over there" came also 
the return of spirit and morale. 

It didn't come slowly, it came in a burst of glory. 
1 he Battery would be lined up in the street before 1st 
Sergeant Greene finished blowing his whistle. There was 
a uillingness to work and the old pep came back and over 
the night the Battery was rejuvenated. The event they 
had been looking forward to and hoping for was coming. 

About the middle of the month of May. an order was 
received calling for candidates for the officers' training 
camp. It was surprising to note the small number of 
Batterymen who became enthused over this project, 
which, had it come a month earlier, would ha\e found 
the entire Battery in line. The overseas rumors had 
gained such prestige that the thought of spending more 
time in training did not appeal to many. As a matter of 
fact the candidates who were finally chosen were called 
in by the Colonel and given applications to fill out. 
Some were never filled out or sent in but the candidates 
who were eventually chosen for the school were, Paul 
Davis, Paul V'ignos, Roland Herbert, Bill Bowen and 
Bruce Newkirk. 

They were booked for the big show in France. The 
month of May dragged slowly through. On the 18th, 
the 1 12th Engineers and part of the Sheridan doughboys 
left. The psychological examination was held at the 
Coliseum and the Battery passed it with the highest 
grade in the regiment. 

During the months at Sheridan the personnel of the 
Battery had suffered from transfers and from men going 
to the training camps. On May 23rd, thirty recruits 
from Camp Taylor, Ky., arrived, bringing the Battery 



The Red Guidon 



Page 67 



up to war strength. Tents were erected behind the gun- 
park for the new men and under the command of Sergeant 
Hoffman, Corporals Carl Truhy, Marion Slates, John 
Jackson and Leo Fitzpatrick, they were given the rudi- 
mentary artillery drill. 

The last few days of X lay were spent on the pistol 
range, where the men sharpened up their eyes and pre- 
pared to give Fritz a warm reception if it ever came to 
close quarters in France. With June came the closing 
of the Battery's career in Camp Sheridan. On the 3rd 
the guns and caissons, relics of the gas-house and Mexican 
border, were loaded and shipped to Camp Wheeler, Ga. 
On these old B Battery guns, hundreds of officers and men 
had been trained, but their tisefulness to the Battery was 
at an end. 

Four days after the guns left, the horses were taken 
to the Remount Station. No one was there that day 
will ever forget the wild ride around the race-track, 
during which Bill Base and Don Xorthrup were thrown 
from their horses and slightly bruised, and the sad parting 



^P. 



of men and horses. The trip back to camp through 
Montgomery where Marshal Sheets, Spooks Fulmer and 
others sent kids to buy ice cream for them and then had 
to go back to camp before the kids returned. 

The horses and materiel gone, the remainder of the 
Battery's stay at Sheridan was taken up with full pack 
drill and inspections. June 14th was the day set for the 
Battery's departure from Sheridan. The 13th was spent 
tearing down the tents, oiling floors and policing camp. 
That night the men slept in pup-tents in the gun-park. 
A few of the hardened flappers ventured to Montgomery 
to say their final farewells, but the majority remained 
in camp. Sleeping on the hard ground in the gun-park 
was none too good so the men were up bright and early 
the next morning. Blankets were rolled, packs made up 
and the men sat around waiting to go. All that day the 
"^ ' was thronged with men. writing their final let- 
ters from Sheridan. It was a wild, hilarious bunch that 
boarded the train late in the afternoon. Cheering, 
shouting, singing, the boys were overjoyed. 1 here may 
have been a few serious ones but for most of the men 
it was the great moment. They had waited and longed 
for it for over a year. Outfits not half so well drilled or 
disciplined as B Battery, had gone over long before. 

At last its time had come, June 14th at six P. M. the 



train bearing the B Battery pulled otit of Camp Sheridan . 
Ihe Battery was bound for the big show "o\'er there." 

CHAPTER I.X 

THE trip north from Sheridan was made in day 
coaches. The day coaches were the only flaw in the 
ointment of the Battery's joy ride to Camp L'pton. The 
train was delayed at Opelika, Ala., for eighteen hours, 
owing to a wreck further along the road. The Battery 
took a short hike through the town and encouraged by 
Captain Ka\enagh, sang for the people. Athens, Ga., 
Monroe, N. C, and Hamlet, N. C, were next on the list 
of stopping places and the Reel Cross, represented by the 
pretty girls of these towns, passed out chocolate, cigar- 
ettes and lemonade. 

Raleigh, N. C, was reached about eight P. M. on the 
loth. Here the Red Cross and pretty girls were out 
strong. Ihe Battery song birds Mutt, Bausman, Skeets 
Werner, Tub Lamiell, Larry Fetch and Tommy Thompson 
rendered se\eral "choice selections." Some of the officers 
on the train became so interested in the work of the Red 
Cross here that they let the train pull out without them. 
An auto was pressed into ser\ice and they caught the 
train a few miles out of the city. Washington. D. C, 
was next an^l the train reached there about ten o'clock the 
next morning. Ihe men went on a short hike through 
the woods outside the city and then back to the train for 
coftee and doughnuts that were served by the Red Cross. 
Baltimore. Md , Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia, Pa., 
were on the route .'\t Philadelphia blocks of ice cream 
were ser\ed to the men, then through the Pennsylvania 
tube under New ^ork. antl then out onto Long Island. 

.At one .\ \1 June l.sth. the Battery arrived in Camp 
L'pton. L 1. Lhe men were too tired to look around and 
tumbled into their bunks. A few hardy spirits braved 
the ic\ waters, of the shower baths to remo\e the tra\el 
stains. 

Camp L'pton was built on the flats of Long Island. 
It was a typical cantonment layout and the troops lived 
in big two-story barracks. The entire second and part 
of the ground floors were devoted to sleeping c|uarters, 
1 he remainder of the ground floor was taken up by the 
kitchen, mess-hall and offices for the first sergeant and 
the supply sergeant. 

The spick and span appearance, so noticeable at 
Sheridan, was lacking at Camp Upton. The camp was 
neat and clean but e\en so it lacked the finished touches 
of Sheridan. There were the usual ^', .\1. C A. buildings, 
K. of C. halls and other places of recreation for the men. 
The big canteen was more like a department store than 
an army canteen. The men saw se\eral gooel shows at 
the Liberty Theatre at Camp Upton, among which were 
Isadore Duncan's Dancers, the Lamb's Gambol, and 
Irvin Berlin who sang his famous song, "I Hate to Get 
Up in the Morning." Then there was the Buffalo 
Theatre for the colored troops in camp. The men 



I'iKJC li<S 



The I'xcd (lUidon 



attendLxl sc\fral performances and t)ne of their \isits 
ended in a near riot. After that an order was published 
forhidding the attendance of the hatter\mcn at the 
Buffalo Theatre, 

Life for the Battery at Camp Upton was an easy one. 
The men had fair living quarters and spring cots to sleep 
on. The mess hall was clean and the meals good. There 
was a good sized mess-fund on hand and it was being 
spent liberally to supply some of the delicacies which it 
would be impossible to obtain overseas. A few days 
were devoted to drill and calisthenics, but the big feature 
of the Battery's stay at Camp Upton was the inspections. 
Ihere was an inspection for every day and for e\ery- 
thing. It would have been an absolute impossibility lor 
a man, unfit for foreign service to have escaped detection. 
Tin derbies and a few other articles of ee|uipment were 
issued and the Battery was ready for o\erseas. 

Three days after the Battery's arrival at Camp 
Upton. twent>-four hour passes were gixen to the men 
who had relatives in New ^ork. Tay Haller, joe Kelly. 
Atlee Wise. Mike Greene and Mutt Bausman \ isited the 
big city. Art F-^aulkner and John Hicmel \isited their 
homes in New Jersey. Lewis Moore made Easton. Pa.. 
Henry ^'ork to Mt. Carmel. and Bill Murph\- went to 
Philadelphia, Pa. Relatives and friends of man\ of the 
boys came to camp to bid them good-bye. f^atchogue. 
Centre Moriches and the other towns around camp where 
they stayed were the scene of many parties for tlie men 
Captain J.J. Johnston. Captain Kavenagh. Lieutenant 
Bruce Griffin. Lieutenant Lee Moore. Dick Thomas. 
Billy Lenihan. Hal Grossman. George Couch\'. 1 luirman 
Staudt, Mutt Bausman. Russ Lothamer. HaroLl Moock 
and man\' other men entertained visitors 

The da> when the final good-bye's were said came all 
too quickh , The men said farewell to their relatives and 
friends while outwardly they were brave, there was many 
a secret tear shed at the parting. 

On June 2(3th. the final inspection was held. Barracks 
bags were packed and sent away and a detail of men 
went with them to care for the loading and unloading on 
the railroad and ferry. 

The Battery was scheduled to leave early the next 
morning. 1 he packs were made up in the evening belore 
and the men, fully dressed, laid down to snatch a few 
hours sleep. 

Top Sergeant Mike Greene's whistle routed them 
out of bed at three A. M., a hurried breakfast was eaten 
and the men started on their march through the sleeping 
camp to the station, about half a mile away. On the way 
to the station the boys saw a fire burning in the church 
opposite the K. of C. hall and by their shouts, they 
attracted the attention of the guards in camp and in a 
few seconds the buglers were blowing fire call. 

The entire 134th Regiment loaded on one train which 
pulled out about five A, M. A two hour ride brought them 
to the Brooklyn terminal of the Long Island Railroad 



and in a lew minutes walk, the\' reached the ferry boat 
waiting to carr\' them dow n the ri\ er 1 he men hung 
o\er the rails and endeavored in every wa\' to reach a 
vantage point on the boat, from which to see New ^'ork 
and Brooklyn, as the ferry churned its way down the 
East River 1 hev saw the Brooklyn bridge. New fork's 
famous skv-line, an^l manv' other interesting sights. The 
ferry boat reached the Bush Terminal about Q:30 A. M.. 
and. docked at the terminal lay the English transport 
ship "Nestor. " which was to bear the Battery on its 
journey. The men debarked from the ferry boat to the 
pier where hot coffee and buns were served by the Ameri- 
can Red Cross women At every place the Battery had 
stopped on Its trip from Camp Sheridan, the Red Cross 
had been there to serve the men. The American Red 
Cross was always deeplv appreciated by the men of B 
Battery. 

The lunch finished, the flattery lined up according to 
number, tile^l up the gang-plank, and onto the boat. 
As the boys reached the head of the gang-plank, "Safe 
.Arrival " cai\ls were ^listributCLl by the Red Cross. 

d hey were filled out 
and addressed bv' the 
men and the Red 
Cross took charge of 
them, and as soon as 
word of the "Nes- 
tor s" arrival in Eti- 
rope was receiveel. 
these cards weremaikxl 
Irom New ^ ork. 
e funnel freighter, had 
formerly plied between Australia and England, carrying 
cargoes of meat and wool, but during the war it was pressed 
into the transport service and now it was the ship that 
was to carry B Battery overseas. The Battery quarters 
were on C Deck in the forward hold. About twenty mess 
tables accommodating ten to fifteen men each, completely 
filled the place. The men slept in canvas hammocks 
which were slung from hooks overhead and above the 
tables and during the elaytime the hammocks were taken 
down, folded ancf piled in the corners. All equipment 
was folded and plaeeel on racks. The place was over- 
crowded and It was almost impossible to move around. 
After arranging things below, the men went up on deck 
to look arounel. The scene was tvpical of New York 
harbor. At the different piers as far as the eye could 
see. ocean going vessels were moored. Most of them 
were taking on cargoes, and many, like the "Nestor,' 
were crowde^l with soldiers, and all of them camoulfaged. 
On the ciock w ere the warehouses of the Bush Terminal, 
Out on the river, tugs and lighters churned their way up 
or down stream. Here and there a tug could be seen 
hatilmg a string of barges or iiull-cloggedly pulling a 
vessel into mKl-stream, .Alongside the "Nestor" lay a 




The good ship "Nestor, a sin^ 



The l\i'(l (iiiidon 



Page ()!) 



lighter from which barracks haj^s were hcinji Linloaclecl 
hy means of a w inch and deposited in the hold of the ship. 

Supper. ser\ed about four P. M.. was the Battery's 
first meal on the ship It was a fairh' good meal, one ot 
the few good ones ser\cd on hoard during the trip. Before 
supper the men had their first experience in drawing 
rations aboard ship. Carets were issued for each table 
and two men from a table armed with pots and pans 
went to the galle>'. A sergeant punched the card and 
as the men marched through the two by four cook house, 
the English cooks filled the pans. Every afternoon at 
four o'clock, two men went to the ship's bakery and drew 
bread, butter and sugar with an occasional can of jam or 
marmalade. 

After mess, hammocks were slung again anel the men 
prepared to try their new sleeping quarters. 1 hey had 
been on the go since three A. M. and were ready to sleep 
anywhere. The hammocks were so close that the ends 
o\'er-lappeel and a man often woke up anel found himself 




nursing the foot of the man sleeping in the next hammock 
Henry Bittinger. \ ei ne Ritter anei se\ eral other men 
spread their hammocks and l^lankets on the tables and 
floor, preferring this to the swinging oxerhead berths 

When the battcr\men reachei.1 the eleck the next 
morning the "Nestor" was still at her berth. About 
eight-thirty A. M. a tug came spluttering up along-side 
and tow lines were thrown to her anel maele fast The 
tug. puffing and spluttering more than e\er. headed for 
mid-stream, while the "Nestor," carrying its load of 
soklier-frcighl, slowly follow-ed. "They were off" 

Mid-stream reached, the tug cast off The huge 
propellers of the "Nestor " started to churn She swung 
•irounel and in a few minutes was heaeleef out to sea. 
Down the ba\'. past Goxernors hianel anel the Statue of 
Liberty the \essel steameel The men stood crowding 
her sides and decks taking a last fond look, as the shore 
line of the one and onh' nation m the workl for them, 
fadcel slowly be\'onel the hoicon IhcN were going 
4000 miles away to light lor this great nation, to protect 
her from the late of Belgium anel 1 -'ranee, to keep in- 
xiolate her womanhood and to preseiwe a go\'crnment of 
democracy against the autocrats an^l barbarians of the 
Kaiser and his legions. Deep down in e\ery man's heart 



there was a sadness and a tear as the\- stood anel watched 
the land of their birth or adoption fade slowly into the 
distance. 

Late in the alternoon the sea became choppy 1 he 
boat rocked badly and many of the men experienced 
their first attack of seasickness Mess that night found 
\ery lew of them at the tables. Nearly e\eryone on 
board was sick 1 he hoLl was hot and stuffy, so most of 
them rcmaineel on eleck until se\'en-thirty P M, when 
they were orelered below When they did go below 
they were all armed with buckets. 

From the time of lea\'ing the harbor at New ^'ork the 
"Nestor " had been under the protection of two elestroyers, 
six submarine chasers, two aeroplanes anel a dirigible 
balloon W hen the men came on deck the next morning 
after a miserable night m the holel the protecting \essels 
anel aireralts hael \anisheel The "Nestor" had been 
loineel during the night by ele\en other transports, A 
L'nited States battle cruiser was the protecting ship. 

Lor the next lew days nearl\- e\er\onc hael a touch ot 
seasickness or was recovering from it Hn Sunelay the 
men were gi\en then first boat eliill anel an order was 
reael makin,g e< mipuNorv' the wearing ol lile belt and can- 
teens filled with water at all times 1 he transports in 
the con\oy had now increased to fifteen in nuniixr anel 
the \esscls were lollow ing the Gulf Stream Late in 
the afternoon two men lell o\erboard from a \essel on 
the port siele of the "Nestor " A boat was lowereel from 
a tanker bringing up the rear of the con\oy and they 
were pick eel up ( "orporals Glen Spade, Don Northrup, 
Carl Truby, V] ] Thomas and Frank Werner ol the 
Special l^etail were stationed at different points on the 
ship as lookout, watching for submarines C L Lamiell 
anel ,\rt Possehl were assigneel to the ship's gun crew anel 
for the rcmainLler nf the \c)\age they stayed by the gun 
on the stern ol the boat With detail men on guard and 
Possehl anel Lamiell on the gun crew, it would ha\e 
spelled disaster to a submarine that dared show itself. 

The f-'ourth of July was celebrated in mid-ocean. 
The Stars and Stripes (lew from the mast heael all day, 
the onh da>' that any flag was flown by the "Nestor" 
eluring the entire \(i\ age In the morning there were 
speeches by the ship's Captain anel the ship's Doctor, 
The hand played anel the whole bLineh sang, leel by 
Captain Ka\enagh 

fhe eiinnei was orelinai\, but plum eLill was seiweel 
which helped some In the afternoon there was bo.xing. 
The men had all recoxered from their attacks of seasick- 
ness anel were beginning to enjox' the trip. 

On the elaiU routine Reveille was blown about six in 
the morning I here was mess at se\en and about nine, 
the men took salt shower baths followed by calisthenics 
on the top deck The rest of the da\ was spent reading, 
writing letters or watching the boxing in the alternoons, 
l^aps souneleel about eight P. M anel e\er\(ine was lorccd 
to go below. Lights were under ban on the ship and. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 7/ 



except for a few shaded lights, the hold was dark. It was 
stuffy and uncomfortable. Many of the men would 
sneak up-stairs to the wash rooms to steal a smoke or to 
enjoy the fresh air. The nights were wonderful, and 
except for about three hours of darkness, they were as 
bright as day. 

The mess being served was totally inadequate to satisfy 
the appetites of the men and many a stealthy \isit was 
paid the ship's bakeries after taps. \1 P. were on 
guard throughout the ship but the men managed to 
elude them and get into the bakery and kitchens of the 
ship's dining room. Corporal Clif Schnake and M. M. 
Shere were leaders in these visits and for the sum of 
fifty or se\'enty-fi\e cents a sandwich and cup of coffee 
or a pie could be purchased. Nearly every man in the 
battery bought something from the bakery during the 
trip and while the prices charged were exorbitant, still 
the appetite must he satisfied. Something the regular 
fare was totally unable to do. 

When the "Nestor " had been at sea for seven or eight 
days the voyage started to become monotonous. The 
men were anxious to land. E\en the lact that the ship 
was entering the mine fields, or the possibilities ot an 
encounter with a sub, failed to keep alive the interest of 
the men in the trip. On the tenth day the convoy met 
the sub chasers sent out to escort them safely in. As 
soon as they hove into sight the protecting cruiser turned 
hack and started full speed for the States, For a few 
hours the men were interested in the maneuvers ot the 
chasers. They seemed barely to touch the water as the>' 
skimmed along, racing hither and thither, always on the 
lookout for a submarine or minL-. I he\- did discover a 
floating mine and there was a lively half hour while thev 
exploded it by gunfire. 

When the bunch came on deck the morning of the 
eleventh day they saw land far out on the port side of the 
vessel. It was Scotland and all day long the vessel 
steamed along its rocky coast. For a time the coast of 
Ireland was visible far off on the starboard and later the 
Isle of Man, 

About one A, M, on Jtily lOth, the "Nestor" entered 
the Mersey River and anchored in midstream by the city 
of Liverpool, Hammocks were taken down and folded 
tor the last time that morning. Packs were made up 
and the men made ready to disembark. The ship had to 
wait for the tide before docking so the men spent the 
time on deck, taking in the sights on the riv er and w aving 
to the ferry boats as they steamed down the river. 

By two P. M. the tide was right and the boat warped 
into the berth. The docks were crowded with workmen 
who waved and cheered and gave the ^'anks a hearty 
welcome. The boys on the boat were all on deck, the 
band was playing and everyone was shouting and singing 
"Hail! Hail! the gang's all here," and the old, old favorite 
"Ohio — Ohio, the hills send back the crv were the 



popular songs. They were sung with a vim and gusto 
that must have been heard all over the city. 

It was a happy bunch that filed down the gang plank 
and formed in line on the dock at Liverpool, A few 
minutes of rest, then the command "Squads right'" and 
the battery was on its way to a rest camp about four 
miles distant. Through the streets of a city, new and 
strange to the men, they marched. The double decker 
street cars, with women conductors, and the few English 
Bobbies that were seen, caused much merriment. Every- 
where the people treated the men kindly and at one place 
where the men rested some women served tea. 

By five o'clock the Battery had reached its first rest 
camp at Knotty Ash, on the outskirts of the city. The 
Battery was destined to stop at several of these rest 
camps during its stay in Europe, but none of them lived 
up to their name. Knotty Ash was typical of all other 
such camps There were tents of all sizes, shapes and 
colors, accommodating from six to twenty men each, and 
a dirty straw tick for a bed. Stops for over-night or 
occasionally for two or three days were made at these 




rest camps, and, during that time, the men were not 
permitted to leave them. There were huge stoves where 
coffee could be boiled but that was about all, the mess 
usually consisting of cooked and ready-to-serve army 
dishes such as corn willy, hardtack, etc. 

After the men had cleaned up and eaten they spent 
the evening wandering around the camp. Perched on the 
wall around the grounds were dozens of little English 
kids and their favorite cry was, "Eh! Sam, gimme a coin. " 

The ^'anks always obliged, and had lots of fun watch- 
ing the kids scrambling for the pennies. Occasionally a 
Bobby would wander past and then the kids would beat 
it to a safe distance until he had gone. Perhaps the most 
noticeable thing around Knotty Ash was the hundreds of 
convalescent English soldiers in their light blue uniforms 
Some were seated on benches on trees. Many were 
walking and a few were in invalid chairs. 

Despite the strict orders about leaving camp many ot 
the boys managed to sneak out and take a look at the 
city. .A few of these were unfortunate enough to be 
picked up by the M. P Captain Johnston, Captain 
Kavenagh and several of the lieutenants put on their 
"Old Sam Brownes" and went downtown. 

Packs were made early the next morning and at seven- 
thirty A. M. the Battery boarded a train at the Knotty 
Ash station, a few hundred yards from camp. Here they 



Page 12 



The Red Giiidoii 



found that English railroad coaches and continental 
coaches, for that matter, differed greatly from those in 
the States- The cars in which the Battery traveled were 
divided into compartments. There were eight men to a 
compartment and there was no interior aisles in the 
coaches, in going from one compartment to another it 
was necessary to leave the train. 

1 he Battery had a pleasant trip that day for the coun- 
try was pretty and good to look upon, and although there 
was no grandeur or magnificence and no imposing moun- 
tains or ri\'ers as might ha\e been seen in the States. 
things were just pretty and typically English. Towns 
were plentiful and their red bricks and white mortar ga\e 
them the appearance of Christmas houses. I he fields 
were cultivated up to the railroad tracks and low stone 
walls, running far up the hillsides, divided the fields 
Crops were springing up every w here and the w ht)le count r\ 
was so neat and orderly that it appeared that a landscape 
gardener had plotted it. The train passed throtigh many 
of England's famous cities, notable among them being 
Leicester, Sheffield, Reading and Oxford, where a glimpse 
of the gray towers of its famous University were seen, and 
late in the alternoon the train pulled into Winchester 
Then there was another hike through the city and another 
rest camp. Morn Hill, sittiated some distance beyond, 
which differed slightK' from Knottv Ash Here the men 
slept in wooden barracks, Ihere were many British 
soldiers at this camp and from them the boys heard some 
wonderful stories of the fighting on the Western lidnt 
It was here that an old soldier talking to Bob Wiener. 
Red McCracken and other Battery men answered the 
question; 

"What's the war like, over there, anyhow^" "Well," 
came the reply, "Hits four-fifths fun and excitement and 
one-fifth danger and inconvenience." 

The next day the Battery was on the move again. 
A two-hour train ride brought it to the docks at South- 
hampton. A short time after the 1 Uth arrived the 542nd 
Field Artillery also pulled in There was a canteen on 
the dock, and all afternoon the men ate pork pie, cookies, 
chocolate and drank pop Hours later they deeply 
regretted the way they had spent the afternoon. The 
band of the 134th and that of the 142nd gave concerts, 
each band striving to outdo the other in music and volume 
of noise furnished. 

At six P. M. the Battery boarded the boat that was to 
carry them across the English Channel. It was a side- 
wheeler and looked like the old "Island C^)ueen" that used 
to run from Cincinnati to Coney Island. Adjectives aren't 
available to describe the way the men were crow^led. 
jammed and packed on that old "tub. " As the vessel 
steamed down the bay the boys saw some of the coast 
defense work. Small stone turrets scattered over the 
bay and the ugly muzzles of the big guns proiected 
through loopholes in their sides. 

Once in the channel the trotible bcijan I he ocean 



at its worst had been a mill pond compared to it and the 
crowded condition made things still worse. The boat 
was heavily convoyed by sub chasers, but there were 
many men who that night prayed that a submarine might 
slip through auLl end their misery with a torpedo. 

L3espite the miserable night the men were in fair shape 
when at six o'clock the next morning the vessel reached 
Le Havre, f- ranee B Battery had finally arrived "Over 
There" and was soon to be m the place for which it had 
so longed hoped and waited It was soon to take its 
place as one small unit m that far flung battle line on the 
Western front 

CHAPIER X 

AM ER ^lisembarking they were drawn up on the pier. 
1 he men stood rigidly at attention and the officers at 
salute while the band played the "Star Spangled Banner" 
aU'.l the "Marseillaise I hen headed bv the band the 




regiment started for a rest camp .ibout live miles awa\'. 
The march through the city was a triumphal procession. 
Everyone had heard or read of the treatment accorded the 
American troops by the French people and few of the men 
ever expected to experience it. vet on that eventftil day. 
the Battery s first in b ranee, thev' were received with a 
welcome that will linger forever m the memories of the 
men who were there, .'\merican flags floated everywhere, 
the people clapped and cheered, llowers were showered 
on the marching troops from v\alls and windows and it 
was not long before all the batterymen were wearing 
llowers in their buttonholes 

Perhaps the most striking incident ol the march, the 
thing that will linger longest and strongest, was the 
deference and respect shown the regimental colors and the 
.American flag as thev went by Evervone in uniform, 
men and women, stood at salute. The entire male 
population from old white haired men. veterans of 1870, 
to small boys hardiv able to walk, took off their hats. 
It was a touching sight and the men thrilkxl anel wondered 
at It 

After an arcluotis march up steep hills the camp, which 
was but a counterpart of the rest camps that had gone 



The Red Guidon 



Page 7.) 



before, was finally reached. GiiarLls were posted and 
the men were not permitted to leaxe the camp. Two 
days were spent here and it rained most ot the time 
Throughout the night the distant rumble of guns could 
be heard although the battle line was about se\enty-fi\e 
miles away. There was a \ apor bath in the camp, but 
most of the time, both \apor antl bath pro\'ed to be a 
minus quantity. When a man was all ready for a bath, 
water was shut off, due to a defective tap or joint and then 
he was forced to wait se\ eral hours or go w ithout his bath 
The Battery was well satisfied when on the third day it 
started its march down hill and back to the city and 
railroad yards. If the men had known what was waiting 
for them perhaps they would have been content to remain 
in the Le Ha\Te rest camp. Their next experience was 
to be with '"40 hommes — 8 chevaux. " For the un- 
enlightened It might be well to explain that all troops m 
France were mo\ed in box cars, which resembled, to a 
great extent, the ones on children's to\ railroads and 
were not much larger, about half the size of an American 
box car. These cars were supposed to hold forty men or 
eight horses and as a matter of fact, the>- do hold fort\' 
men, but the last six men have to be pushed in and the 
door closed. Into these cars the men of B Battery were 
crowxled, between thirt>'-fi\e ani.1 loits nun to a car with 
their equipment and three days' traveling rations. I he 
cars were so badly crowded that it was hardly possible 
lor all to sit down and wItlit night came the men either 
slept on top of one another or else the\ took turns sitting 
elow n 

While waiting for the train to i^iill out the Battery 
had the first sight of the Hun. there were many German 
prisoners working around the \arels and in their pea 
green uniforms on the back of w hich w as paintetl in white 
the letters P. Cj., they presented a strange sight Iheir 
guards were f-rench soldiers who were too old lor line 
service. 

As the train pulled out of the yards and through the 
city, the way was lined with kiddies who continually 
pleaded for "Beeskeet." Many a can of corn willy and 
package of hard tack was thrown to them but w hether or 
not that is what they wanted is still a debated question 
in the Battery, However, the men deprived themselves 
o( food in order to give it to these krench children 

"I like to eat but if those kids are hungrv', I am willing 
to go without " was the sentiment expressed by \'ic 
Guinther and it found an echo throughout the Batterv 

The men seated in the doorways of the ears that night 
saw indistinctlv' the irregular flashes of the guns, far to 
the north, and their roar reached them faintiv L'p there 
•American soldiers were making historv It was |ulv 15, 
F1|8, and that day the "I'anks defeated the flower of the 
German army at Chateau Thierry, 

I he trip south from Le Havre was uneventful but the 
men of B Battery will long remember it, not for any 
incidents during the trip but because of the mode of 




travel The country through which the train passed 
lacke^l the picturesqueness of England Cities were 
scarce; Rouen, Lc Mans and Saumur being the principal 
ones that were passed on the road. At several places 
where the train stopped, strong black coffee was served. 

As the train ,got further south the country became- 
prettier anel showed more signs ot cultivation until it 
finalK entereel the great wine country around BorLleaux 
Here the land was given over almost entirely to the 
growing of grapes, and, stretching into the distance, 
clear to the horizon, were fields of grapes, the vines 
all careftilly pruneel ani;l trimmed to a height of three or 
four feet. 

About noon of the third dav' of the trip the train 
crossed the bridge over the Gironde and entereel the city 
of Bordcatix A stop of about an hour was made there. 
Then the train contintied its journey to the town ot 
Pessac about ten miles outside of Bordeaux. 1 he train 
pulled in on a siding and the men unloadeLl. I hen that 
wearisome, full-pack hike to Cestas, seven miles away, 
began. 

The Battery's stay in Cestas v.'as short but pleasant. 
( See details Cestas. ) Calisthenics under Lieutenant jacks 
followed by a full-pack hike of five or six miles in the 
morning and a shorter hike in the afternoon made up the 
schedule of work. The rest of the d'av the men were 
free. Captain Norton was in command of A ani.1 B 
batteries at Cestas and he never overworked them I he 
Battery's easiest and pleasantest days in France were 
spent at Cestas and its best impressions of France and 
of the French were obtained there. 

During the stay in Cestas the first passes issued in 
France were given out and the fellows, who v\'ere lucky 
enough to have the necessary francs, made their first trip 



Page 7i 



The Red Guidon 



to a French city — Bordeaux. Fhe long deferred pay-day 
came at last and then the demand for passes grew to uch 
an extent that Captain l\a\enagh put restrictions on the 
issuing of them. The fame of Bordeaux had spread like 
wild-fire and everyone was anxious to \erify the pictur- 
esque stories told by those who had been there. 

Twelve days after the arrival at Cestas the Battery 
was on the mo\e again. 1. C. Spicer, Howard Miller, 
John Michaels, James Hogue, Chris Mogensen and 
others under the command of Stable Sergeant La\er>' 
left to scour the country for horses. The rest of the 
Battery started at se\'en A. M, for the artillery training 
camp of De Souge, twenty miles away. Packs had been 
lightened as all unnecessary articles were put in barracks 
bags which went over by trucks. Just before the hike 
started all canteens were inspected to see that thev con- 
tained water and not "\inegar blink." TwentN miles is 
easy to say but it's mighty hard to hike and the men 
found it out that day. It was hot and dusty. The men 
had been warned to be conser\ati\e with the water in 
their canteens but before the stop was made for noon 
mess, most of the canteens were emptv. Mess consisted 
of baked beans, tomatoes ani.i hard tack It was eaten 
quickly and the Battery was on its way again. The rest 
of that hike was torture to most of the outfit. They 
were artillerymen and as such, they had ne\'er been called 
upon to hike any great distance on foot Near Cam|^ 
De Souge two captive observation balloons floated lazily 
in the air, and the men gazed at them longingh' and wished 
that they were in them. 

About the middle of the afternoon the gate of the 
camp was reachetl "Here at last'" was the expression 
of all. They were doomed to disappointment as they 
found that the billets were a long, long way from the 
gate. Through the camp they marchcLl, barracks were 
everywhere and ten yards from the road was running 
water. Once the Battery halted and the men made a 
break to fill their canteens but were ordered back in 
ranks and they realized the meaning of- - 

"Water — water e\erywhere and not a drop to drink " 
.After a weary heart-breaking hike through camp they 
finally reached their billets, which were at the extreme 
end of the camp. 1 he barracks were typical French ones. 
Long, rather narrow, one-story affairs with double-deck 
bunks, each building capable of housing about se\ent>'- 
five men. The barracks in which the Batter>- li\ed at 
De Souge were built of brick, though man\ in this camp 
were of wood. 

The men were too tired to take much interest in their 
surroundings the afternoon of their arrival, Fhey la\' 
wearily on their bunks until mess time and immediatcK 
after mess they went to bed again for the night, Ihe 
next day work started in earnest for the billets, kitchen 
and mess hall were in a filthy condition and the Battery's 
first job was one of housecleaning. It was thorough and 
started at the top, the ceiling and rafters, then the walls 



and bunks were dusted antl finally the floors were swept 
and scrubbed. The kitchen, mess hall and tables were 
scrubbed; the rafters and walls whitewashed. Flies 
buzzed around the kitchen and mess hall in untold 
numbers and in order to remedy this to some extent, the 
place was darkened through the daytime and every day 
two men were detailed from the Battery as fly swatters. 

Housecleaning finished, the men discovered that after 
their work they could stand some personal cleaning but 
they soon founci that the most necessary element — water 
— was sadly lacking in Camp De Souge. It seemed to 
be lacking all o\er France but in the training camp it was 
especially noticeable. Water was indeed precious. There 
were shower baths but most of the time they were not 
working It was during the months of August and 
September that the Battery stayed in De Souge. The 
weather was hot and the ground covered with fin; du;t, 
so that the shortage of water caused much inconvenience. 
There was a small, shallow creek some distance from 
camp and many of the men went there for their baths. 

The Battery was to be equipped with the French 75 
mm. gun, which had been shipped from Tours, but it was 
not until two weeks after the arrival in De Souge that the 
guns arrived. During these two weeks the Battery was 
not idle. The camp still needed cleaning and under the 
direction of Colonel Bush and Major Gordon all bru=;h 
around camp was burned, and there w'as gas mask drill 
and full-pack hikes. The old bromid; about war being 
Hell was full\- realized by the men who took the two-hour 
full-pack hikes with gas masks. The hike was bad 
enough but the ankle-deep sand made it worse. The 
Battery usually walked to a balloon school, about two 
miles below camp, and much interest was exhibited in 
the products of their home town, for they were Goodyear 
balloons. 

There were numerous forest fires about camp, caused by 
firing on the range, and every day and every night found 
details from the Battery out fighting fires. Baldwin, Swain 
and Owens were the chief fire fighters of the Battery, 

A few days after the arrival in camp, schools were 
opened in different subjects pertaining to Battery work. 
There was school for Battery officers; another for chiefs 
of section and gunners in the nomenclature and care of 
the J") mm The signal detail took a five weeks' course 
in telephone and communication work and there were 
also courses in special subjects. Corporals C. 1, Brewee 
and M L, Slates were instructed in machine gun work. 
Corporal J , B, Kelly and Norman Fuchs were the Battery's 
camoufleurs and Corporals Thurman, Staudt, Cliff Schnake 
and George Miller attended gas school. The gas corporals 
soon became the most cordially disliked men in the 
Battery, not personally, but from a gas point of view. 
Their job was to give the Battery an hour or so gas drill 
every day and if there was anything the bunch disliked, 
It was this method of torture and the playful games 
that went with it 



The Red Guidon 



Page 75 



In the evenings the outfit loafecl around the Y. M. C. 
A., wrote letters or \isiteLl the neishhoiing towns of 
Bonneau, St. Medarcl and St. Jean d'llac The city of 
Bordeau.x was only about fifteen miles from camp antl 
the boys with the necessar\- amount ol Irancs spent 
Sundays there. They \isited the art galleries, the 
cathedral and places of interest, arn-l alined at the ^', i\I, 
C. A., or restaurants or drank \ in blanc at the little tables 
in front of sidewalk cafes. 

The materiel finally arrixcLl late Sunday afternoon. 
August I 1th. and the following moining the men. \ery 
glad to ha\e guns again, and acting in lieu of horses. 
dragged the guns through the sand from the road back 
to the gun park. The next few weeks were busy ones for 
with gun drill and range work, there was not much time 
lor loafing. Gun drill starteel m the afternoon under 
Lieutenant H. E. Myers and a corporal who was assignee! 
to the Battery as an instructor. 1die 7^ mm 
was a much different gun trom the okl three- 
inch field piece, and the bo\s ha^l to begin 
learning all o\er again They soon found 
that, in man\- wa>s it was a much better 
gun; the one thing the\ elKln t like hi)we\er. 
was the panoramic sight 1 he gtin park was 
crowded every day after the arrixal ol the 
guns. 

"Rear of your piece — f'all in'" 

"Cannoneers Post!" 

"Gunners to me'" 
and similar commands IiIIclI the air I he bo\s 
were old-timers in artiller\ wiirk, so it i.lii.l 
not take them long to get going I hen too. 
there were other incenti\es to spur them on 
They realized that the qtiicker they learncel 
the quicker they w.ould reach the Iront. and. 
after a wait of two years, they were all brok- 
en out with anxiety to get in the big show. Every day 
the papers were filled with news of Yankee activity and 
B Battery wanted to get in on a part of it at least; 
— Chateau Ihierry. The Marne, kismes, — "La Jeune 
Armee Americaine" had fought side by side with the vet- 
erans of F'rance and Englani.1 and ha^l earned its spurs. 
The\' had met and bested the Huns at their own game. 
Would there be any fighting left for okl "B ' when it 
struck the front" \o wonLJer the gang pi.it pep and 
ginger into its gun drills. 

Ckin drill started Monda\- alternoon. and l-ridaN 
morning the Batter\- went to range for its first firing 
practice. Captain Ka\enagh acted as e.xecuti\e officer 
on this occasion and on the Battery's return to camp, he 
congratulated the men on their work from then on the 
Battery spent about e\ery third day on the range, the 
other days being filled in with gun drills and an hour or 
so of gas. Water was still lacking in camp It was 
anything but pleasant to speiiLi the LJay working on a gun 




cleaning and greasing it. then tramp back to camp under 
the hot. dusty afternoon's sun and find there was no 
water. A bucket bath became a luxury and there were 
men who were al^le to sha\e. bathe and get a good drink 
from one canteen of water. 

brench harness arri\ed on the 18th of August, but 
why it came no one w.'as ever able to figure out lor it was 
always an encumbrance to the Battery. No doubt it 
would have been useful if there had been any horses but 
most of the work in k ranee was elone "sans chevaux " 
(without horses). Of course, there were a few scraggy 
animals but the total \'ery seldom exceeded twelve or 
fifteen. The lack of horses was the cause of holding up 
the [battery on more than one occasion. As the work 
progressed barrages became the order of the clay. They 
were small at first, culminating in the big one the evening 
the training enekxl D Battery stiffered a most regret- 
table accident on .August 27. two of its men being killed 
and a thnxl injured by a premature burst 
of a high explosi\e shell in the breach of a 
gun. A\fter this accident e\erN- precaution was 
taken to guard against similar ones in the reg- 
iment Pits were dug, and bags erected and 
the gtins were fired with a long lanyard. 

1 wo elays after D Battery's accident B 
Battery also suffered a loss. Captain Carl 
Ka\enagh went to Brigade Headquarters to 
become C^.hief of Operations for the 02ni.l field 
.Artillery Brigade. There were grave fears that 
an outsider wotild become commander of the 
Pmtter\ but the\ were ne\er realized. 
Lieutenant W m E. Leahy became command- 
ing officer and some weeks later recei\ed 
his commission as captain and assigned to 
B Battery Three other men left the Bat- 
tery about the same time as Captain Kav- 
enagh. Sergeant Clyde Miller went to the 
raining School at Saumur and Corporal Wm. 
A. Bass and F'rivate George Harris went to the Motor 
I ransport School at Lyons. 

'fhe boys were all working hard, at De Souge. but 
there was enough diversion to keep them from going stale. 
1 he ^'. M. C~. A had shows and one evening held a costume 
ball, strictly stag, and a regimental minstrel show was 
organized. C. E. Lamiell. Larry Fetch, "Skeets" Werner, 
I omm\- I hompson and "Mutt Bailsman were the men 
who represented the outfit in the show. Several old 
boys from "B" scattered through the regiment also took 
part, among them being Jack F-^riel, Harry Greenberg, 
Eddie Sauter and Bob Barrington. The show played 
at the different "^'s in camp and took a few trips to out- 
side places. 

Great excitement prevailed with the arrival of news- 
papers on September 14 Ihe First American Army 
operating on its own initiative had succeeded in reducing 
the famous St. Mihiel salient after two days of hard 



Officers' 



Page 76 



The lU-d Guidon 



lighting, Ihe news maeic the boys more impatient than 
ever to he lea\ ing the training camp, and it was not long 
until they were on their way 

i he period of probation was soon to be eneleci. 1 here 
was a day spent on the range tising direct fire an^l some 
dead-eye gunners were uncovered, Corporal Larry Fetch 
and George (Speed) Nycamp kocking down four trees 
in as many shots at 400 \ards distance. There was a 
night barrage laid elown by the regiment and then came 
the big final one. lasting better than half an hour, in 
which the entire brigade participated and it was only a 
question of days, now. until the Battery would lea\e for 
the big show. Playing war was over; from now on it was 
to be the real thing. 

Barracks bags were discarded as was all unnecessary 
clothing. Everything a man owned was to be carried on 
his back and no one cared to be over-burdened. Caissons 
were packed with a few extra articles of clothing and the 
harness was bundled up. There were only fourteen 
horses in the outfit and on Monday. September 23. the 
guns were pulled from the gunpark to the road, prepara- 
tory to being hauled away b\' truck. 

The Battery was to lea\e early the ne.xt morning, A 
detail left in the e\ening to care for the guns at the loading 
platform and the rest of the men laid down full pack for 
a few hours sleep. At three a, m, they crawled out in 
answer to the "Top's" whistle and with their packs they 
started for the loading station at Bonneau. fi\e miles 
away. They v,-ere scheduled to pull out at si.x a m,, 
but no one e\er knew of a troop tram in f- ranee lea\ ing on 
time. By the time the cars were spotted and the materiel 
loaded and spiked down, it was well after six a, m,. anel 
it was nine when the eleparture was finally made. 



The trip from Bonneau was peihaps the most com- 
fortable one the outfit e\er made in "40 Hommes — 8 
Che\aux," Ihere were only twelve or fourteen men to 
a car, A large forage pile lay beside the platform and 
before the tram pullcel otit, every one had straw to sleep 
on, 

1 he engine pulled and sw itched around l^orLleaux until 
noon, when it (malK decided to start on its journey. 
The first stop after Bordeaux was La Bourne, then 
Perigueux, where an American train crew took charge. 
The horses were watered at Bussiere and the journey 
continued. Limoges. Chabanais and Chateauroux were 
on the list of stopping places. The countryside was 
beautiful anel the boys spent long hours m the doors of 
the cars admiring it. Through Issoudun, Bourges and 
Saumur the train sped or crawled. It usually did the 
latter. Then into the railroad center of Chatillon and 
later the one at Cosne, Re\igny. the destination, was 
finally reached at two a, m,, September 27, 

Then started the work of unloading. 1 here was some- 
thing missing here, however, that was present on all 
pre\'ious occasions No lights were allowed as the place 
was close enough to the front to suffer from air raids, 
and, being something of a railroad center, it lIilI occasion- 
ally suffer. After the cars were unloadexl, the guns were 
pulled into a field a few hundred yards away, and the 
men sat elown to await ele\elopments. 

After a hot breakfast, \er\ earl\- in the morning, the 
Battery started for l.aimont, lour kilometers north, 
where it was billeted They had to pass through Revigny 
and for the lust time the bo\s saw, at close hand, the 
effects of nuxlern war on a brench \ illage, as the northern 
part of the town was nothing but crumbling walls and 





jpA 




ss-?5 




The lied (iiiidon 



Page 77 



brick ckist. l.aimont was e\en worse; tlicrc was haiwly 
a building in the whole town that ha^l not stiffered a 
direct hit anel here the men saw ( w hat w as later to become 
an olel lamiliar story), eriimblin.n walls, j^apping windows, 
shcll-toin lools anei shatteie^l eluirch spires. 

The billets were scattered o\ei' the town; a lew in the 
lofts of barns that had escapei.1 serious injiiiN- but most of 
them in cellars an^l bomb-pioofs called "abris ' Another 
new experience, anel one that really ma^le the outfit 
think that the\- were at last "getting into it," was the 
earlv posting of an oi\lei- lorbi^lding lights after dark as 
L^oche planes hatl a habit of making \isits in this territory 
and a light might mean a bomb and the upheaxal of large 
sections ot the sui rouni.ling landscape, .Ani^l when 
darkness fell, it brought with it a re^l flicker like heat 
lightning on the horizon aiiLl the sullen mtitter of the 
guns, "Cest la Guerre " 

1 he 324th Fiekl Artillery pulled into Rcvigny just 
three hours after the n4th and some of the old border 
men hekl quite a retinion with Captain Richmond, Lieu- 
tenant [-"aimer an^l Lieutenant Ikxingtun, who were 
attached to the 324th Lield .'Xrtillery /\11 of them were 
tickled to death to see the oLl erowLl, Fhe 324th ['ield 
Artillery left abottt noon, thinking that the\- were bouni-1 
lor the \'erdun sector 

Lile m Laimont lor the ne.xt lew days was \'ery quiet, 
1 he Battery had gtin lIiiII in the morning, in order not 
to forget what the\- leaine^l at bouge, and hikes with the 
materiel m the alternoon I here was a large aviation 
camp near Re\ igny an^l all Lla\ the air was filled with 
planes, generalK fix ing m SL|uaLlrons, going to and return- 
ing Irom the Iront ( 'ne evening |Li>t belore mess the 



[iattery men cotinte^l sc\ enty-eight planes in the air at 
one time I here was a Trench anti-aircraft battery 
stationed here f^ut while the outfit was in Laimont, Boche 
planes kept prettx well out of sight and the anti-aircraft 
guns were silent. 

A detail from the Lilteenth f^.axalry Remount Depot 
brought four hunLlicLl horses to the regiment at Laimont 
on September 3f)th and B Battery got thirty-fi\c of them. 
1 he Battery began to have \isions of a well-equipped 
outfit in regard to horses — something new in r'>ance. and 
their hopes rose still higher when a regimental detail of 
about one hunLlred men was sent to Re\ igny after some 
more horses that came m by rail It was a grand, little 
Llream, while it lasted, but the detail was no sooner back 
than another eletail was pickecl to take them away again, 
along w ith the horses that the Fifteenth Cavalry brought 
in, I his cletail took the "ehevaii.x" tip to an outfit (C 
Company 2 3rLl I-ingineers) on the X'er^lun front. This 
was the alterw aixl-celebratCLl "1 rip to V'eivlun " (See 
story.) Fhe [battery was now left with twentx-two 
head of horses (-Or that matter, in all the mo\ mg 
around f-ranee thai was done later. thc\- nexer had 
an\- more than that iiiul the\ always got there' 

(.''rders came through, and the regiment left Laimont 
at one o'clock m the morning of October 8th. it was a 
miserable, rainy night to load antl the inevitable "40 
Hommes---8 C.hex atix ' train that pulled out at sex'en in 
the morning earricLl a tired and cold crowd They did 
not know It then, but this was the Battery's last train 
ride lor a long, long time — their next one was to be in 
Lebruary "apres la Guerre. " It was only a one-day 
ride; the train came to its destination at Champigneulles 



-<•»->"' 



^-s^" 



ll 




Page 78 



The Red Guidon 




that night at fi\e o'clock. After Linloadinj:;, the long 
hike was started to "Pneumonia Hollow" nine kilometers 
away. It was raining again (it seemed to be always 
raining in this part of France) and the arrival was made 
about nine o'clock by a bunch that were very wet, very 
tired and colder than e\er. 

"Pneumonia Hollow!" Who of you gold-striped A. E. 
F. \eterans reading this history will ever forget it'' A 
muddy road wound between two towering hills, (they 
were called hills, but in reality they were the foothills of 
the \'osges Mountains) to where the whole bind Field 
Artillery Brigade was camped in this little narrow valley. 
The sides of the hills began to climb among the beech and 
oak trees twenty feet from each side of the road. There 
was not a sign of a billet, so long-forgotten pup tents 
were brought into use. The Battery was only ten kilo- 
meters from the front and constantly in danger of bomb- 
ing from Boche planes. "Get under cover!" was the 
order, and get under co\er they did, horses, caissons, guns, 
equipment and men. Literally, they took to the hills, 
and the thick shelter of the wooded hillsides. It was a 
weird scene. From the entrance to the valley the casual 
observer could see nothing but a muddy road and wooded 
slopes, while on the hills themselves under the shelter of 
protecting beech and oak were picket lines and hundreds 
of horses; guns, caissons and materiel in seemingly endless 
confusion; cook wagons preparing food for hungry men; 
and everywhere and anywhere were pup tents pitched on 
the slopes, with their occupants, dug-in on the sides, and 
pup tents hung precariously along ledges of rock. 

That very night carne the proof that the "Get under 
cover " order had not been in \ain. It was chilly and 
hundreds of little fires had been started on the hillsides 
and about an hour after dark these little red gleams were 
\ isible e\ery where like so many gigantic fireflies. Sudden- 



The Red Guidon 



Page 79 



ly there was a low hum, rising and falling in cadence, 
even to those who did not know what it was it held a 
sinister sound. The hum grew louder until it became 
what it really was, the purr of an airplane motor. 
Then a new sound, the low wail of a siren in the little 
village of Pompey at the foot of the road warning in- 
habitants to go into their "abris" or bomb-proofs and 
simultaneously, the "krump--krump" of anti-aircraft 

batteries opening 

up. The first Boche 

airplane'to visit 

•a\ . L-' the 134th Field Ar- 

^li _■- g. tiilery was here! 

^^H ^ It got to be a 



y 




common enough occurrence afterward; but that first night 
there was pretty much excitement. 1 he air was filled 
with cries of "'Put out those lights!" "'Hey, Buddy, 
douse the gleam'" and "Put those fires out'" "Hovv^" 
"Pour water on 'em. Anyway, only make it snappy!" 
Needless to say, the fires were extinguished "toute 
d'suite" and in five minutes "Pneumonia Hollow" was 
enveloped in the deep dark gloom of the night. The 
plane eventually passed o\er without dropping any 
bombs and the Battery finally got to sleep. 

Pneumonia Hollow was clamp and muddy and cold and 
wet and miserable and it there were any more adjectives 
to be thought of they could be applied just as well. That 
was the way the place got its name, while, as far as is 
known, nobody really developed pneumonia, everybody 
should have. 

K'lost of the next day was spent in cleaning the mud 
from the harness and materiel, and in watching the battles 
between German airplanes and anti-aircraft guns. It 
was a fascinating sight; a black speck appeared in the 
sky, there was a muffied "krump" and a fleecy white ball 
of smoke exploded somewhere near it This was soon 
followed by others until there were a dozen or more of 
the cottony puffs in the sky and until the Hun turned 
tail and chased back to his own lines. There were many 
of these battles, but the boys ne\'er tired of watching 
them. 

At one thirty p. m., on October 10th, the first two 
gun sections led by Lieutenant Leahy, Lieutenant Myers 
and Lieutenant Curtin, with a few men from the detail 



left to take up a position, about sixteen kilometers away. 
The route lay for the most part along the beautiful Moselle 
River and they reached the position about nine in the 
e\ ening and relieved the first two gun sections of a French 
battery. I he next day the performance was repeated 
by the third and fourth gun sections; they arrived at the 
same time, pulled their guns into the places left by the 
l-'rench guns, the Frenchman started down the hill and 
13 Battery was established in its first position of the war. 

The Battery suffered its first casualty on this trip. 
Just before the positions were reached a caisson ran over 
Corporal Glen Spade's heel while he was assisting to pull 
one of the limbers out of a mud hole. It was a very pain- 
ful injury and he was taken back to Pompey the next 
morning and from there to the hospital at Toul. 

The next morning when the firing Battery woke up, 
dressed, and came up out of the dugouts to look around, 
they found thcmseKes gazing on the most beautiful scene 
they had witnessed in France. The Battery position 
was on top of a high hill, with the gun 
positions just below the crest. All 
around and far below them lay 
France. Directly at the foot of the hill, 
nestling in the valley, was the little vil- 
lage of Ville-Val, her red roofs and 
church spires gleaming in the sunlight, smoke curling la- 
zily from the many chimney tops. The rest of the broad val- 
ley was a study in patches of green, red, brown and gold, 
the whole coLintry was under different stages of cultivation 
and from this high altitude it looked like a cubist picture. 
The Moselle River was a siK'er ribbon that twisted 
crazily in an^l out until it lost itself among the far purple 
hills on the horizon, and the roads looked like white tape 
stretched across the country, just below them a plow- 
man turncLl a furrow in a nearby field and shouted to his 
yoke of oxen; a cowbell tinkled faintly in the distance. 
It was a beautiful scene, a scene of peace and quiet, and 
it is pretty safe to say that not one of the Battery men in 
trying to picture what their first front would look like, 
came anywhere near the mark. In fact, there were 
times when it was hard to believe that there really was 
a war going on 

I 



^ S 'I M% ., 




':^^ 



^-^^^ 



The Red Guidon 



Page 81 







:^J/f- 









On the other hand, 
there were the gun 
pits with the ^uns 
pointed in the gen- 
eral direction of Ger- 
many. Looking closer, 
one could see that the 
business of war was 
\ going on here in a 
\ery husineS.s-like 
manner The dugouts 
were all camouflaged 
from aerial observa- 
tion, as were the gun 
pits thcmseKes. These 
last, by the way, were 
\ery substantial af- 
fairs: the floor, and 
the trail-log was of 
concrete. hea\y tim- 
bers supported the 
roof, which was made 
bomb-proof with 
heavy, steel rails, 
sheet iron and sand 
bags. There were 
I roomy ammunition 

pits adjoining, filled with shrapnel, high explosives and gas 
shells, as well as different kinds of fuses, and camouflaged 
tunnels led from one gun pit to the other. 

That first day the men found that this was officially 
known as the Marbache sector; that the 134th b^ield 
Artillery was backing up the Q2nd Division ; that they were 
about fifteen miles from the city of Metz as the crow flies, 
and that B Battery's barrage data called for purely 
defensi\'e barrages. As the probability of the Allied 
forces being put on the defensive again at this stage ot 
the game was ver>' remote, this proxed to be quite a 
disappointment: as usual, the Battery cra\ed action, 
especially now that they were really on the front and 
some of them coukl not understand why they did not 
begin firing right away. 

Two days later, on October 1 3th, the rest of the Battery 
mo\ed up from "Pneumonia Hollow" to Millery where 
the Battery echelon was established. It was only eight 
kilometers from here to the gun positions and much easier 
to get supplies up to the firing Battery. All the Battery, 
with the exception of the four gun crews, two camouflage 
men and some of the telephone detail, two cooks and 
three kitchen police were here, and spent the time, for 
the most part, cleaning up the town, which was in a pretty- 
filthy condition, due to the fact that it was so near the 
front. 

Up at the gun positions, life was far from monotonous, 
even though B Battery did no actual firing from where 



they were. There was a good bit of counter-battery 
work. 

Heinie was sending his shells o\er more or less con- 
stantly all the time, and the beautiful statue of Joan of 
Arc near to the Battery position, erected as a shrine, 
came in for a good bit of shelling. It is characteristic of 
the German Kultur, that they shelled this statue for 
months at a time, and they never hit it. 

The Battery ne\er fired a shot from this position. 
Corporal Mike Slates and his machine-gun crew had their 
Hotchkiss set up about fifty yards in front of the fourth- 
section gun and they, too. waite^l in \ain; plenty of Boche 
planes came o\-er. but they were either too high or too 
far away for the gun to be used. For the most part, the 
men sat in the dug-outs and wrote letters or stood guard 
over the guns during the night — listening to the whine 
of German shells as they dropped in the vicinity ot the 
Battery position. Here it was that the Batterymen 
heard, for the first time, the unmistakable sound of an 
approaching shell — a low whine, gradually increasing in 
intensity, followed by the "Bang" of the burst of the 
projectile. It was a terrifying sound at first, but they 
soon got used to it and learned to tell approximately 
where the shell was going to light 

On the morning of October loth, the first and third 
gun crews got up at four o'clock and had an early break- 
fast. Limbers came up from echelon and the guns were 
taken from the positions, and they started forward. 
Their objective was a point some four kilometers from the 
Battery position on the edge of the ,*\lton woods, in a 
forward position. They reached it about se\en o'clock 
and at two o'clock that afternoon they fired B Battery s 
first shot of the war, on Epiey in the (merman lines. 
Altogether, the two sections fired ninety rounds between 
them. As soon as they ceased firing, a German Battery 
opened up with reciprocal fire and they limbered up and 
moved out under heavy shelling, reaching the position 
again at eleven o'clock in the evening. The second and 
fourth sections were supposed to repeat the performance 



A\^- 




Tl\e Red Guidon 



Page A'.)' 



the next day. hut word came from Regimental Head- 
quarters that the liattery was to he relie\-ed and they 
did not go. 

The Battery was relle\ ed on the night of Octoher the 
20th, hy a Battery from the 35 1st F-ield Artillery, Q2nd 
Division and the Batterymen who were in Texas were 
surprised to find two old B Batterymen with this organ- 
ization Wendell Norris. at that time Lieutenant Norris, 
was acting hattery commander of one of the hatteries, 
and Chas. Chapman was orientation officer w ith another. 
There was not much time for talk then .so alter a few words 
of greeting B Battery was off. 

They arrived about one o'clock in the morning ani.1 
under cover of darkness. B Battery moved out ; the limhers 
went down the hill and the new Battery moved in They 
reached echelon at Millery. just as dawn was breaking, 
to find that they were to leave again that day; that the 
higher numbered sections had left the day b;fore in trti.ks 
A hot breakfast was ser\xd to the men who had just 
arrived and they hit for the nearest barns and billets — 
any place to snatch a few hours sleep before they had to 
leave again 

At eight o'clock in the morning, the regiment was on 
the way again and arri\'ed at Camp Ouest. their new 
destination, at four o'clock in the afternoon It was an 
old French camp with the typical wooden billets of the 
French army, situatei.1 in a patch of woods just oil the 
Toul road There was hardh' room to accommodate a 
regiment so as a consequence, all the billets were fillcLi 
to overflowing, 

A period of six days in all was spent here It was 
known as a "rest camp" and was the one place in France 
so dcsignat-d that lived up to its name, for the men 
didn't do n:uch but rest there was a Mobile Hospital 
about two kilos away and Colonel [\ish made arrange- 
ments for hot baths for the regiment It was their first 
bath for a long time -most ol the otitfit hadn't hacl a 
bcth since leaving Laimont. so it was sadiv needed and 
greatly appreciated This six dav sojourn at Camp 
Ouest can be best remembered by such incidents as 
pay-day, th: subseqtu^nt all night poker session, and 









^ \u 



MM 



— I 





the trip to Toul that George White. \ ic Cuinther and 
Harold Moock didn't take 

At this stage of the game, it seemed to most of the 
outfit that they were traveling all the time — in fact ever 
since leaving Camp de Sotige. they no sooner got settled 
in one place than another or^ler came through and they 
hit the road again As they never, in all their A. E, F" 
career, had more than one-fourth of their full ecjuipment 
ol horses, it became the regiment's pet boast that "what it 
took to get somewhere with nothing " thev had Really 
It was not so much of a boast either, for it was an absolute 
tact. It was not much t)l a surprise then, when, after 
SIX days at Camp Ouest, they again found themselves 
moving — destination unknown. Accordingly at four 
o clock in the afternoon of October 27th, the guns, 
caissons and men were on the road again. 

All night long thev' hit the road. It was a long and 
wearisome trip through the ^larkness. Now and then 
thev clattered through the streets of a shell-torn and 
ruined \ illage It was cold as usual and very uncomfort- 
able as such trips always are At one place the line was 
held up for three hours by two stalled trucks that blocked 
the road by running into a shell hole. Dawn came, and 
it was five o'clock m the morning when they pulled onto 
the side of the road and came to a stop. Dead tired the 
men tumbled off the guns and caissons, spread their 
blankets in the iiiulI an^l went to sleep. 

When they awoke they found that they were in 
territory that was to go down in history, connected with 
the American army — for thev' were just on the outskirts 
o[ Apremont. in the famous St, Mihiel salient, just 
ahead of them was a high hill that had been German 
territory until a few short weeks before when it was 
wrested from them, Apremont and the surrounding 
country was terribly shelled and evidencesof the American 
offensive were everywhere, I he fields to the r ght and 
left of the woods were full of barbed wire entanglements 
and hastily constructed graves 

Immediately after breakfast most of the batterymen 
climbed the high hill west of Apremont and found it 



Paije S'l 



The Red Guidon 



well worth the eHoit. The Germans had hcen there so 
long that they had spared no pains to make themsei\es 
absolutely comfortable. Everything was made of con- 
crete, even the trenches and machine-gun nests were 
well made and very substantial. The larger dug-outs 
were marvels of human ingenuity, containing everything 
that might add to the comfort of those living therein. 
Some of them forty feet lielo\v the grotind with connecting 
tunnels, had wallpaper and pictures on the walls, tables 
and arm chairs sitting around and two of them even had 
grand pianos. All were equipped with electric lights 
although the power plant had been completeK' destro\ed 
In one of the exploring parties was Tub Lamiell, B Bat- 
tery's piano artist, who was one of the first to discover 
the pianos. Ten minutes later the casual passer-bv' 
might have been astonished to hear, coming from a hole 
in the ground, the old familiar, "Ohio — Ohio. The 
hills send back the cry," etc. 

On the summit ol the hill, clevcrlv' camoullaged 
from aerial observation by a clumi^ ol trees, the fellows 
found a two storv' clubhouse that might have served as 
a country-club anywhere It was surrounded by a "beer 
garden" with clever little rustic tables and chairs, every- 
thing left just as It hael been before the birst armv' ha^l 
made their attack. It was very evident that the Hun 
had left this place in a great hurry, nor ha^l he meditatcel 











on the manner ol his leaving. However, from the way 
things were fixed on that hill, he certainlv' must have 
hated to go, 

Apremont was onlv what might be called a breathing 
spell, to give the men and horses a much needed rest. 
The regiment now had work to do, and it was not to be 
very long until they would be doing it. 

Once again it was the same oIlI story ot not enough 
horses so at ten o'clock on the night of October 27th 
only the first two sectR>ns left Apremont lor the front and 
the Battery's second positions It is tmfortunate that 
they were not able to make the trip in daylight tor it 
was a very interesting road they traveled. The boys 
never saw it that night but they passed under the shadow 
of the famous Montsec where it is said that torty-five 
thousand I'renchmen in efforts to capture its fortifications, 
were lost. 

At Hattonchatel the batterymen were met by a 
French sergeant who v\'as a guide tor the remainder of 
the lourney. .At four o clock they came to a stop on a 
deeply wooded road and discovered the Ireneh battery- 
men, thev' were to relieve, busilv' engagcel in pulling their 
guns out of some cleverly camoullaged gun-pits. B 
Battery's guns were soon in their places and the men 
looking for their dug-outs, lor it was not wise to go 
exploring in a strange country at night The shells were 



















f jtB i I/I Iff ■ f.TKL"''^'-^^ 



^ 



*««'M»*i>'OtH'«»«'*SWW«W;U 




The Red (iiiidon 



Page .S'.> 



all falling some distance to the Icit ol these new positions 
hut one could not tell wlien Heinie might shilt his guns 
to the right. 

The next night the thiixl anel lourth sections went 
through the same performance, relieving the remaining 
two French sections, and the firing battery was in position 
on the second front. They were now m w hat was officially 
known as the Pannes sector but the newspaper accounts 
of actixities ga\e it as the Woevre sector. Ahead of 
them was the 33rd [3i\ision of Illinois National Guardsmen 
who were relieved two days later by the 28th Dnision of 
Pennsyhania National Guardsmen 

When the batterymen had the opportunity to look 
around them, they found that all their preconceived 
notions of artillery warfare as regards battery positions 
were turned topsy-tur\ y. I he four 
guns were centered around a cross- 
road that ran through the heart of a 
deep wocds, about one-half kilo west 
of the Verdun, Pont-a-Mousson road. 
The first section gun was just about 
one kilo from the little piles of stone 
that had been the village of Woel. 
Most ol the positions were in what 
had at one time been a German camp 
or echelon during their four years 
stay in that part of the country. The 
positions served as a sort of perma- 
nent right wing defense for the Ar- 
gonne advance Like the hill at Ap- 
remont the one-time camp had all 
the modern conveniences that could 
be lound in any of the French homes 
that the Boche had ravished. 

The first section gun was on an 
uncharted road that had been bin It 
l-iy the Germans during their occupa- 
tion of the territory. Back of the gun position in a little 
grove were a few shacks that had been the homes of the 
lately departed Boche. The dug-out was a hastily 
constructed affair dug by the Frenchmen who had been 
the first allied soldiers to occupy the place It was very 
small and only by croweiing were the men able to get into 
the hole anei once inside it was necessary to get in a bunk, 
such as they were, for it was impossible to stand up 
because ol the low ceiling of logs. In one dI the shacks 
marked "Unteroffitzenn" the men established a kitchen 
and tor two davs thev' prepared their own meals. The 
kitchen was about a kilometer back of this position and 
to get to It It was necessary to go over some dangercjusly 
exposed territory, so Cook Sedberry gave the men rations 
to last a few days and the trip was not necessary. In 
their rush to get out of this sector the Germans had left 
many useful articles behind for the newly arrived 
batterymen who soon had an iron range set up and 
were preparing warm meals three times a eiay. To the 




right ol the position was a huge building that resembled 
a house that might be seen on any new allotment in 
Akron 1 1 was of the colonial type and had been equipped 
with all motlern improvements, including electric lights. 
The second, third and fourth section gun positions and 
the officers and special detail dug-outs were close to each 
other and all along the main road, also uncharted on 
most commercial maps, which connected Vigneulles with 
the road to Fresnes In these sections as in the first, the 
boys had made themselves as comfortable as possible 
with the stoves, tables and chairs which they found 
around m the little shacks throughout the woods. 

The thii\l section adopted a little shack near their 
dug-out in which they spent their leisure hours during 
the day. There they wrote letters and talked, and on 
one occasion. v\ hen the issue of sugar 
' had been rather large, they made real 

''\ fudge. That mess of fudge is one that 

the boys will not soon forget for it 
was surely made under peculiar con- 
ditions and with peculiar utensils. 
A bucket that was usually used to 
clean the gun was pressed into serv- 
ice for the bo ling process. It was 



the same one that Sergeant 



^at 



Lynch had used previously to boil out 
some clothes and that George Nycamp 
earlier in the dav' had washed his sore 
foot in The chocolate — for it was choc- 
olate fudge — w as that which had been 
issued to the battery for the purpose 
of making hot chocolate tor the men 
instead of coffee but under the condi- 
^-"^ A^Jf^ »"-■ ''^ tions It was impossible to use it for that 
-"^^^^-l^^- e' ■/■^' ' so the cooks gave it to the boys to use 
•^5-:'< '"', Y' as they wished. When the fudge was 

finished and cooled it would have 
been hard to tell it from the creation o( the best of 
the fudge making "co-eds." 

The officers and special details had very comtortable 
dug-outs, if dug-outs may be called that, tor they were 
both spacious and dry. Above the detail cellar there 
was a little shack resembling a summer house m which 
the men spent their time when not on duty. In any other 
part of the world this little settlement would have been 
termed beautiful. 

I he fourth section position was marked by the ob- 
servation post in the big tree that stood directly in front 
of the dug-out door. Here many a weary hour was spent 
by the men on watch for signal rockets from the inlantry. 
Their underground home was also spacious, in fact it was 
the largest in the battery. 

The second section was quartered in a small dug-out 
that allowed some of the overhead moisture to ooze 
through but in spite of this the men followed the example 
of the third section and procured sugar and chocolate and 



Page 86 



The Red Guidon 



made fudge in their home on the German stove that they 
had policed up in tlic woods. 

The French batteries had brought up plenty of am- 
munition to last for a week and it was all nicely piled up 
beside each gun. There were plenty of fuses of all 
descriptions, too, and all the B Batterymen had to do was 
invoice it and wait for the orders to use it. The boom of 
the exploding German shells made the fellows impatient 
to send some sort of receipt back for the scrap iron that 
was falling in their \'icinity and the officers and details 
were working incessantly on the data that would place 
the 75s where they were most useful. 

On the morning of the 2'^th, the first shots were (ired 
on this sector when the first section fired about six rountls 
of shrapnel to adjust the gun for direction. Then after 
the other guns were placed in position B Battery was 
ready to resume hostilities. The following day the other 
guns joined the first section and they were all adjusted 
on the \illage of Ioin\ille with shrapnel. The most 
surprising thing about the firing from these positions up 
to that time had been the lack of reciprocation on the 
part of Heinie, None of the incoming shells had been 
close enough to cause an\' particular Inght. whereas the 
batterymen had figured that since the Boche had so 
recently been in these same woods, he would be able to 
place a shell just where he wanted it from the maps they . 
must have drawn of the vicinity. 

It was on this day that most of the men w itnesscLl their 
first air battle Almost o\erhead, a Boche and a F'rench- 
man met and fought It was indeed an inspiring sight 
to see those "aces" dive and dip trying to assume an 
ad\antageous position to fire on his enems'. When the 
"Spad" was finally forced to land, it was \ery gracefully 
done in spite of the rain of machine-gun bullets that 
poured around him. Later in the day another thriller 
was performed in plain \iew of the battery when another 
German manou\ered o\er a French "sausage" until at 
last, ha\ ing the recjuired position, he opened fire on the 




■ ■*-.■•" -#".-' ■■-■*■' 




gas bag and headed his machine directly for it. The lone 
occupant of the O, P. was seen to lea\'e his basket in his 
parachute just as the big bag burst into flames and the 
German "Ace" turned his "Fokker" homeward and dis- 
appeared behind the clouds. 

On the night of October 30th B Batterymen experi" 
enced one of their worst scares and also another lucky 
escape. Heinie finding that his artillery had failed to 
locate the American Batteries in the woods, sent a bomb- 
ing plane o\'er about midnight, carrying a load of G. I. 
cans and pro\ed that he knew something of the geography 
of that sector by dropping four of the things one-hundred 
meters from the first section position. Some of the men 
were in the dug-out and some above ground when the 
explosions occurred but everyone in the battery felt them. 

F"our such concussions as are felt only from the explo- 
sion of an air bomb literally rocked the little shacks. 
Goming as it did in the dense woods, the concussion 
multiplied in \olume The windows and cioors of the 
shacks were either blown in or cntircU' off their hinges. 
In the kitchen shack there was a mad rush for the safety 
of a gun-pit on the part of the cooks. The memory of 
Sidney and Mason chasing each other from tree to tree 
that night will be long remembered by all who heard of 
it that night. 

In the first section shack the windows and doors were 
blown in and the light from the two flickering candles 
pierced the darkness, gi\ing wonderful e\'idence of 
occLipation to anyone having time to obser\e. The 
thing uppermost in the minds of the men sprawling on 
the floor was to get these apertures closed as quickly as 
possible, before they re\'ealed the position. Although 
the scare had been successful, it was no more than a scare 
for after the four bombs came, a monotonous silence, 
broken only occasionally by the put-put of a machine- 
gun somewhere in the distance and the more distant 
rumt^le of hea\ ies to the north. 

The next morning the boys foun^l the holes made by 






^y- 



-"■^TP**- -^t^"!*^ -tat 



^,. 






-— ^-.•. •...-- v^- ."^ 






\ ^-: -' ^ 



.O 



The Red (iuidon 



PiUje SI 



the large ten-inch bombs and the customary report was 
made of the affair. In Akron today are some pieces of 
those bombs whose arri\al gave B Battery its second big 
scare and close shax'e. Close sha\es, by the way, to use 
the slang term, are only consKlerc.! the escapes from 
exploding shells, for if one considered duds — B Battery's 
lack of casualties was miraculous Duds frequently 
arrived in very close proximity to the positions and 
Heinie, finding that his shells placed in that \icinity did 
not quiet the Americans, shifted to another where his 
210s landed harmlessly in an unoccupied position Little 
did the Boche know how man\- non-cxplosn e shells he 
sent over 

Through the woods a little narrow gage railroad 
that had been used to haul ammunition to the big Boche 
guns, that had lately been statione^l in the rear of B 
Battery's present positions, but which was broken in 
some places, was repaired b\' (^hief .Mechanic Hageman, 
with the aid of some of the men, and the kitchen and 
rations were hauled up nearer to the guns 1 he secontl 
day after the guns were placed, the kitchen was in opera- 
tion in the center of the wockIs within eas>' walking 
distance of all the gun-pits, and ( ^ooks Sedberry and 
Mason were on the job 

Althotigh there was some firing e\ery morning at 
some little target such as a machine-gun nest, it was not 
until the morning of No\ember 2ntl that a real barrage 
was thrown o\er I he returns were freL|uent on this 
occasion but the excitement was enough to keep the 
min^l btisN I he show starte^l at lour .\ M an^l lastCLl 
about an hotir and a hall It consisicLl ol throwing a 
smoke screen ahead of the ai.l\ancing infantrx who that 
morning captured a line ol trenches running along the 
northeast side of the "Litang lIc la I ranLle Parrois, ' one 
of the lakes m the Lachaussee group, ani.1 taking o\er si.xtN 
prisoners from the machine-gun nests there During 
this tiring the returns had denoted that Hemic was some- 
what surprised and at a loss to know jList where to locate 
the .American gtins for the shells Idl in all paiU ol the 
woolIs. showing that he was |ust leeling around 



Earl\ the next morning the second, thnxl and fourth 
gun crews were ordered to mo\e their guns into new 
temporary positions lor the firing ol a new barrage and 
at three thirty the cannoneers were busily engaged 
in hatiling the guns along the road to the new positions 
on the left flank of the first section gun. By four A. M. 
the guns were set and orders to fire were anxiously awaited. 

Orders came almost immediately — to fire ten rounds 
a minute for ten minutes and then fi\e rounds a minute 
for fi\e minutes, repeating the dose until further orders. 
Ihis onl\' lasted about twent\ minutes, then came the 
order to increase the range one hundred meters. The 
Lkjughboys were on their way and up went the range 
while the firing went steadiK' on .Xt six o'clock the job 
was done and the btisiness of cleaning and cooling the 
gun was rushed through, so the cannoneers couki get a 
little of the sIcLp ihe\ had been robbeel ol m the past two 
Lla\s In the afternoon the\- were called upon to adjust 
on a new target this time a part of the Bois de Dom- 
martin HnK li\c roun^ls of shrapnel were necessary to 
register on this and the day's work was done It was 
only necessary to keep out of sight thereafter 

1 hat night the inlantr>' of the ^^rd L^i\ ision, that ha^l 
been occupying the lorward trenches, was relieved and 
the 2Nth r2)i\ ision mo\ed into its place 1-^rom ten o'clock 
until earh' morning, the long column of inlantr>men ancl 
machine-gunners moNtvl Lip to the crossroads in broken 
formation -about filt\ men in a group with about one 
hunLlixxl meters l^ctween groups, caterpillar tractors, 
mule teams ammunition trucks and baby tanks wound 
up the procession anel the batterymen who had been 
watching, retired quite assured that something was 
going to happen, and happen soon, in their immediate 
\ icinitN The l()'-''th regiment was placed in the trenches 
LlircctK' aheaLJ of B Batter\ s positions an^l the Illinois 
men ( i^rel Division) went back to rest 

(In the morning of November 4th, B Batterv lired its 
largest barrage 1724rounel-. .Although a heavy' barrage 
was expected .soon, the call at three thirt\ that morning 
was rather sudelen 1 he ammtinition, brought up the 




'e>ia^j£^ J^iAJof^ <:-,^^s.^M>o 



Page S8 



The Red Guidon 



previous night hy the Amnuinition Iiain, liacl been 
dumped near the crossroads, and the cannoneers were 
kept busy all morning carrying it to the guns, two shells 
at a time. 

Firing started at lour A, M , the barrage being a 
so-called "creeping" barrage, to move ahead of the 
advancing infantr>'. At eight forty-fi\e A. M. the order 
"Cease i-irmg" was heard o\er the phone and after four 
hours and thirty minutes of continuous firing, the men 
Just dropped in their tracks. All the guns had 
been operated with three men while the others 
carried ammunition. Breakfast had been ser\ed 
by the energetic cooks who brought a pail of col- 
fee and a pan of bacon and hard tack to each 
gun, and such good tasting food had seldom been 
eaten by the men. Orders were received to stand 
by ready lor any firing orders that might be 
necessary for the result of the ad\ance was not 
known. Until one P. M. the gun crews sat by the 
guns, then a shift was given and firing almost at 
a right angle to the pre\ ious target 
opened up on some re- 
treating Hun infantry on 
the road 

Here the first accident 
occurred and one that 
might have been \ery se- 
rious, too. After firing six 
rounds, the first section 
cannoneers jammed a shell 
in the breech which refused 
to go either entirely in or 
come back out. With all 
the contri\ances e\ er 
invented lor the purpose, 

they endeavored to dislodge the thing but after wedging 
a block in the tube of the gun, the attempt was gi\en up 
and the battery continLiei.1 to fire with three guns until 
the fourth section, too, jammed a bad shell in its gun and 
was put out of commission. Until the job was completed, 
only two guns from B Battery were heard. 

The ammunition on this problem was of the O, \i. A. 
(Obus Explosi\' Allongater) type, a non-resistant pro- 
jectile, capable of traveling eleven thousand meters 
whereas the common shell would onl\- make sixty-five 
hundred at its best. The fuses were the dangerous 
I. A. L. detonaters, whose action was su|->er-instantaneous, 
and utmost care had to be used in handling them, for a 
pressure of fourteen pounds would explode them. It was 
quite a problem then, to force a shell out of the gun w ith- 
out striking the fuse on the en^l. The fourth section 
men were successful in their attempt, but that night the 
drivers were called up to the position to haul the use- 
less first section gun back and to bring up a new one. 

For the next few days nothing but the scattered 
firing in the early morning at machine-gun nests and 




i--:4=v=r^ 



suspicious looking vehicles was done. I he 28th men 
were getting settled up ahead, but were merely sending 
out patrols since no advance had been ordered. Orders 
came up on the 5th, to "dig-in," meaning to make more 
substantial gun-pits for there was nothing much to the 
original ones but a trail hole. 

As soon as the firing was done, every man took a pick 
or shovel and started on the same work that he learned 
so well at Camp Sheridan, Men were sent from the 
echelon to assist in this work, and the third section 
started a pit on the left flank of the (jrst section 
position. The fourth and second section crews had 
already started their improvements near their origi- 
nal positions. 

1 hroughout the woods occupied by the battery 
were found numerous huge timbers in several stages 
ot manulacture into beams and supports (Heinie 
had evidently expected to do some more building 
during the winter) and these w-ere gathered up and 
ragged to the gun-pits, that were in the making, 
and saved Chief Hageman and his crew some work 
in hewing and cutting 

On the morning of November 7th, five hundred 
twenty rounds were fired at a suspi- 
cious looking Bois de Dommartin, Ac- 
tivities had been observed in that 
section and it was suspected that 
Heinie was arranging a machine-gun 
party. After the guns were cleaned, 
the cannoneers were at ease and it was 
very satisfying to note the Lloughboys 
coming down the road with a gang 
of Boche machine gunners and guns. 
I his v\as one ot the occasions when B 
Battery rcceivcLl an inlantry citation. 
There was little to do during the day but to sleep and 
remain within call, so occasionally one man was relieved 
to make a trip back to the echelon for cigarettes or to 
take a much needed bath, if a suitable place could be 
loLind 1 he work on the gun-pits continued and the 
thii\l section men who were also digging a new dug-out 
were almost really to move 

November Sth marked the receiving of the first 
authentic peace rumors in B [battery. Of course, peace 
had been talked of lor over a year, but the copv' of die 
newspaper that came into the batterymen s hands that 
day carried a conv mcing article, Cermanv' was about to 
send delegates to meet the Allies on the subject of an 
Armistice In spite of these convincing rumors, the 
firing went on and over three hundrcel rounds were hrcd 
that morning at machine-gun nests Later in the morning 
hurried ore^ers came to fire at will upon another given 
target. This used ninety more rounds ol H. E. and again 
the results of the day were seen marching elow n the roael 
to a prison camp. 

Fate that night a battalion of heav\- artillery started 



The Red (iiiidon 



Page 80 



moNinf^ down the X'crJun, Pont-a-Monsson road and were 
stopped by some well placeel Boche shells directly in 
their path. Heinie e\idently thought the entire American 
army was ad\ancing by the amount of scrap iron he heaped 
o\er on that road. This happencLl LliicctK' in front ol 
the B Batter\- positions ani.1 naturally was an interesting 
affair to the batterymen who were fnguring on the chances 
of their being called tipon to answer the racket. 

November '^th was a day of promotions, lor on that 
day announcement was made that C'aptain Ka\enagh's 
commission as major huti been approxed, Lieutenant 
Leahy became Captain Leahy of B Battery: Second 
Lieutenant Myers became Mist l^icutenant Myers and 
there were numerous appointments maele in the ranks. 

Only one small problem was lireel this elax . It was 
on another machine-gun nest an^l calLxl forth some few 
returns — a surprising number of which were duds. 
Rumors seemed to float in from all skIcs about the war's 
ending in the ne.xt few days and there was much talk pro 
and con. It was certain that unless something happcncel 
soon, an advance wouLl ha\e to be maele o\cr \er\ ba^l 
roads to keep up with the retreating artillery, as nothing 
but the forward Cjcrman machine-gtin nests were withm 
easy range. On the other hanel, it was the general belief 
that Heinie was getting oil entircK^ too easy, H all hos- 
tilities were to cease then, for in another week the battery- 
men hoped to be in Conllans — firing on Met: 

The morning ol the K.lth proxeel the peace rumors to 
contain at least some truth lor oixlers were issued calling 
for the suspension of all firing to allow C^erman delegates 
to cross the Allied lines, .Ammunition haei been coming 
up to the positions continualK an^l there was plenty of 
work to be done in getting it to the guns and storing it in 
safety. All da>- the cannoneers carried those eighteen 
pound shells and were read\ to fire them on a moment's 
notice, anei no one slept that night, lor it was expected 
that a call would come an\ time to crawl oLit anel "get 
going." 

Again infantrx' was seen mo\ ing lorwarel along the 
road. This time it was the second brigaele of the 2Sth 
Division doughboNS, I here were no men returning 
from the trenches and so it was L|uUe e\ lelent that the 
numbers were being increased and that something was 
due to happen il terms were not made at the peace parley. 
This brigade was aecompanicel b\ two companies of 
tanks of the small type, manncel b\ Iienchmen. who 
advancecl to their trenches unmolestcel anel assumeel the 
positions of "waiters " too. 

After the long wait, when the orelers came concerning 
the signing of the Armistice, strange as it may seem, all 
feet turned towards the kitchen. Of course, all digging 
ceased when this order arrived. 

The most peculiar incidents of the war occurred on 
the afternoon of November I 1, and all day of the 12th 
when the men ol the Allicel anel Oerman armies met m 
open territory and talkeel ol commonplace things without 



the aiel 1)1 bayonet or siele arms None ol the batter\men 
were pri\ileged to enjoy this unique experience until the 
morning of the 12th. when after all the ammunition hael 
been sahaged. thc\- were free to go as they pleascLl until 
night Men hcaeled in all directions leading towar^l 
German trencher anel many interesting stories are being 
tokl toelaN of the aeKcnttires of those trips anel man>' 
sou\enirs are being shown as evidence. 1 he fields anel 
trenches were full of German ordnance property but on 
the first trip o\er the batter>men didn't want to be both- 
ered with anything of that sort They all figured that in 
the next few days the\- would ha\e ample opportunity to 
rcNisit this territory and get what they wanteel I he 
Germans, too, w^'cre out looking lor souxenirs anel were 
willing to traele anxthing the> ow nevl for something 
eiistinctly American 

(ireat was the surprise and disappointment when at 
twehe thirty on the night of the 12th, orders were reecned 
to mo\e back — after only one night of rest. Business of 
packing up anel mo\ mg out was started at once, but not 
until four .\ .\1 were the guns and men reach' for the mo\ e. 
It was with great regret that B Battery movcel that night, 
for It meant the last chance gone, of ever seeing Confians 
or anv of the larger cities that had been targets so recently 

At four ,A M on the morning of the Hth, the tircel 
battery set forth on the first lap of its Journcs Irom war 
to peace and at se\en thirty the regimental column wa- 
lined up m the one-time street of Vigneulles and the men 
were getting a breakfast of coffee and bacon 

Here the S'irel Pioneer Infantry passed on its way to 
the late front to start on its job of policing L ranee and 
burying (Germans I he 2Sth DiMsion infantrymen had 
already e\acuated their trenches and were on their way 
to a rest camp aiitl e\er\i>ne scemcel ..|uite happy o\er 
the prospect ol "going home 

Two non-commissioncel officers were assigned to each 
section's materiel to stay with it on the cross-country 
hike and the balance of the battery was loaded on trucks 
and started on their wa\- about two o'clock m the after- 
noon. Their journcN' was quite une\entful aside, Irom 
tlie stop in St Mihiel where some of the men looked the 
place o\er, quite contrary to orders, until the trucks 
arrived at the new camp that night about se\en P M. 
and then c\er\- fellow started looking lor a place to sleep. 

The guns anel materiel mo\ed out of N'lgneulles 
shortK' after the trucks but o\er a different route I ra\ cl- 
ing was very slow oxer the rolling hills that marke^l this 
country. With the lew remaining horses in fi Battery it 
was eloubh harel to mo\ e for e\ery horse was pulling a 
double load and they had to have plenty of rest. It was 
nightfall before they reached the Meuse and camp was 
finally pitchcel along the road by the La\ignc\illc sign- 
bcwrds and stone piles, lor that was all that remained ol 
what was once the \ illa.ge of La\ igneville. as not a single 
wall was staneling 1 reneh soldiers toLI the batterymen 
that it hael been .American shells and not Boche that had 



Page 'JO 



The Red Guidon 




The lied (juiilon 



Page 91 



caused all this clestrLictnin It was JecmcJ necessar\' in 
dri\ing the Hun out ol the sector 

After a night spent beneath the stars an^l all the 
axailable blankets, and alter a breakfast ol haid tack anel 
coffee, the procession mo\ed away from these ruins 
to\\ard the new camp about ten A M 

rra\el was e\ en slower than the elay belore, tor the 
horses became \ery tireel h\' noon and were gixen a big 
rest at Troyon, the southern elefense of X'erdun At 
Amhiy, where thc>' crossed the Mcuse, the batterymen 
met the 112th Ammunition I rain, who were billeted 
there, and had with them a "'l " 1 kit anel a K of C. soup 
wagon. After a few refreshments there the materiel 
detail crossed the ri\er to TilK anel moxed on into Reeourt 
and thence to the camp about two anel a half kilos west 
on the summit ol a hill. 

Camp Mariaux was the legend on the arch at the 
entrance of the little gioxe in which the billets were 
situateel. but it belicLl its name grossK' lor it was lar from 
domesticatcel The billets were at the summit oi a \ er\ 
steep hill an^l it was impossible lor the horses to pull the 
hea\y materiel to the top so the\' were unhitched, and 
taken to the stables. lea\ ing the carnages where the\' 
were at the toot of the hill. 

The billets were crow,deel to siiliocation and many ot 
the fellows preferred to sleep outside near a warm lire 
rather than in the cold, croweled interior 

The first morning m this camp was spent by [I f-^attery- 
men in tr\ing to clean up both thcmscKes and their 
clothing Many of the boys walked as far as .AmbK' to 
get a shower bath Efforts were being made by the 
authorities to find a more accommodating, camp for the 
men so no drill schedule was issued that ela\' Some ot 
the lellows m searching throtigh the wixxls hael lound a 
little \illage about tut) kilos from camp where some lost 
^'. M. C A. man had put up a tent anel waited lor them. 
Henoite\aux was the name ol the \ illage anel it containcel. 
besides the "^ tent, a pen- 
lineage \isiteel b\' brench peo- 
ple from all piirts of the coun- 
tr\. lor about a week the "\ 
was at the Battery's disposal 
btit then the man anel two ladies 
loLind their wa\' to the ciiMsion 
they were supposcel to be serving 
an^l the\- left su^Llenly 

■Alter an unexentlul lour 
ela\s in ("amp Mariaux the 
1 e g 1 m e n t was l1 i \ i l1 e d i n t o 
battalions and moved to anoth- 
er hill, about two kilos away; 
the lirst battallion was assigned 
hill above Ramblurin. and the 
second to billets on the hill elirectly opposite Camp 
Mariaux. B Battery hai.1 the billets larthest west in the 
regiment ani:l therelore w.is nearest to Rambluzin 







-tzl- ^^ 




reat. 



memorable 



Bach battery's billets were about a hall kilo Irom the 
other anel the organization was together very little 
during the entire sta\' in Camp du Chanois, w hich was the 
name the brench hael given the place. 

1 he view I rom 
this hill was pictur- 
eseiuely beautilul anel 
not many, w ho looke>;l 
over the hazy land- 
scape the first morning, did so 
without feeling a thrill During 
the ensuing dav's and weeks anel 
months the works of nature be- 
came (.|iiite forgotten in the anx- 
letv to get h<ime but to others it .. 
was a thing ol beaiitv ani.1 there- '/ 
lore a ]oy lorever 

November 2llth marked the 
beginning ol the lamous "apre 
le guerre eirill schedule Reveille 
in tact everything just as it hael been m the train- 
ing camps Alter the Armistice hael been signed the 
Batterv was kii nishci-l with an elaborate lighting system 
tor the guns alter hav ing used cigarette butts and flicker- 
ing candles all through the war. Two hours gun drill was 
stipulateel m the scheelule btit it was as much elislikeel by 
the olticers as b\ the men so it soon dwinelled eknvn to 
about a half hour |->er elav until the guns were taken charge 
ol b\ the ( lielnance [department 

That tlav alsi) markeel the real beginning ol the "Reel 
Ckiielon.' lor (in that morning Tommy 1 hompson starteei 
his big storv' ( I l-l 1-1 I ) an^l m tact the entire staff got to 
Wolf, m earnest John bunk completeel the heacl lor the 
"C'lomg Over " storv that day, too, using blue ink and 
w rapping paper lor the job Ovv mg to the lack ol materiel, 
work was rather slow but after a trip to Bar le Hue things 
"began to move arounel the "Red Guidon editorial 
shack 

Ihanksgiv ing B>av, the home coming day of the nation, 
was approaching anel its approach was met with many 
homesick looks and conversations in the billets bor some 
it was the bust Ihanksgiv ing awa\' from home so lar that 
thev eoukin t get a pass an^l it gave the boys seimething 
new to "crab ' about Rumors hael been Hying arounel 
the camp for some time as to the probable departtire lor 
home bv Christmas, an^l some in the regiment had thought 
so much of these rumors that the\ had seen lit to celebrate 
in a verv boisterous manner in Rambluzin, which caused 
a guard to be placed over the town and B Battery, being 
nearest the village, lurnisheel the eletail 

Thanksgiving Day passed uneventfullv save for the 
wonderful dinner in which doughnuts made their ov erseas 
appearance in B Battery mess. It was really a wonderful 
dinner considering the difficulty experienced in getting 
rations to this forgotten hill m France but .'sergeant Curry 



Pdijt' O'J 



The Red Giudon 



^/t«*'"' -^a.^***4r^ n.\ 



and his crew ser\-ed a meal that caused more than one 
disappointed scowl to turn into a smile. 

Then followed days of diligent policing of roads 
around the camp, and every article that could possibly be 
useci was piled up in salvage piles along the road and tin 
cans and paper were piled in other heaps which were 
afterwards removed and disposed of either in a salvage 
depot or a fire. Every day some organization had been 
moving along these roads on their way to a rest camp and 
had left a trail of gas-masks, helmets, tin cans and every 
sort ol hea\y article that they could get along without. 
Thousands of rounds of ammunition were found, too, 
and these had to be packed off to the ordnance department. 
Some of the stables had been left in bad condition by the 
outfit that had preceded the 1 34th an^l these too were 
made sanitary by the batterymen. 

Hikes were made every 
morning, sometimes along the 
picturesque roads and some- 
times cross country, through 
woods and fields. Onz of the 
places visited during a hike 
was 1 lill 341, abo\-e Hieppes 
about five kilos from du 
r.hanois, which marked the 
right wing of the German 
ad\ance in September, 1Q14. 
A huge cross, which could 
be seen for miles around, was 
erected here, commemorating 

the little Frenchmen's decisi\e repulse of the \iciou5 
1 lun, at the loss of twent\-tvvo hundred men to themselves 
and a like number to the Crown Prince's horde. The 
hastily constructed trenches had been used as graves for 
the four thousand dead of the two days' battle. 

Canteen Joe (Schintzler) got on the job early in the 
stay at this camp and about December 5th B Battery had 
its most appreciated canteen. 

Stock for the establishment was rather hard to get 
most of the time but by diligent effort joe had a fair 
supply of tobacco and cigarettes for the boys. 

About this time the Gas Hospital at the foot of the 
hill was abandoned and the shower baths, which were 
the one thing necdetl to make life endurable on the hill, 
were at the disposal of the regiment. By sending a 
detail to the bath billet every day to keep up the fire, the 
Battery was able to ha\e a nice warm shower any time 
they were not busy drilling. 

Passes were issued to Bar le L^uc e\ery Saturday but 
transportation was not furnished. It was a comparatix ely 
easy matter to get a Bar le L^uc bound truck on the famous 
"via sacre," the road from Bar le Due to Verdun, o\'er 
which all reinforcements rushed to the defense of the latter 
city when it was threatened by the Boche. It was due 
to the good condition of this road that Verdun was saved 
on several occasions. 




Rumors of the home going of the 1 34th Regiment were 
numerous and a new batch came to life e\ery day. The 
Red Guidon Staff established a rumor service early in 
December and e\ery morning published on the bulletin 
board the most authentic rumors for the day. Of course 
none of them e\er came true but then rumors aren't 
supposed to do that — they cease to be rumors when they 
become facts. 

Rambluzin, the little \illage at the foot of B Battery 
hill, enjoyed prosperity during these days — the like of 
w hich It may ne\'er enjo\- again. An\ thing that was put 
on the sheUes in the quaint little shops sold at once. 
Some of the fellows became real friendly with the \illagers 
and were guests at dinners in their homes. Ihe French 
fried potatoes and salads made by these peasants was 
unsurpassed in any American home. 

SouilK . the headquarters of 
the First Army was another 
village frequented b\' many 
of the boys. It was about 
eight kilos west of the camp 
on the "route nationale. " A 
"i". M v.. A base attracted 
them there for a while but 
It was mo\ed to \ erdun and 
the sal\ age Liump and branch 
commissary were then the at- 
traction. Many of the men 
were able to pass a Satur- 
day inspection only after a 
\i5it to the Souilly sal\-age dump. 

Perhaps the prettiest and most picturesciue \ illage in 
that vicinity was the little settlement of Benoite Vau.x. 
There are very few batterymen who returncLl without 
some sort of remembrance from this little \ illagc It was 
only four kilos from the camp and was well patronized 
not only by V> Batterymen but by the entire regiment. 
Many of the men attended mass in the historical church 
there, the abbey of which had been con\erted into a 
French hospital for contagious diseases 

December iPth announcement was macie that passes 
were to be issued for eight men to go on a se\en day lea\e 
to Aixles Bains. The men were chosen and were all ready 
to go that night when an order came tlown postponing it. 
It was a great disappointment to the v.aiting men who 
thought that their chance was gone but the following 
e\'ening they were called to heaLlc|uarters and started on 
their way. In the party were Sergeants Newman, Fynch 
and Poling, Corporal Northrup, Privates Conchy, 1 rekal, 
Bittinger and Bennett. These men were prixileged to 
spenel Christmas day amicl the gaiet\' of a large city. 

With the approach ol the holiLlay season came the 
demand for something special in the way of amusement 
and mess. Sergeant Curry was capable of taking care of 
the latter demand but after a meeting of some of the most 
interested a novel i^lea was workev.loul for the amusement 






The lied (iiiidoii 



Page iKi 




rhc stor\- of the big show on C^hnstmas l^ay is tokl else- 
where in this book so it needs but little mention here, 
it was only after \ery tedious hotirs and days of work that 
this show was possible and it was indeed something for 

B Battery to be proud of, 
Exeryone in the organization 
was personally interested in 
the project, in fact they would 
have taken an interest in any- 
thing that would tend to sa\ e 
them from a gloomy Christ- 
mas Day 

"Noel" has been vividly 
y pii pictured in another story un- 
ijji ' der this cover so it can be 
passed o\er lightly here. It 
is only fitting to sa\' that it 
surpassed all expectations, 
though, and is bound to be 
remembered as the best holi- 
day B Battery e\er spent 
That B Battery show surely started things, for two 
days after its premiere, the regimental stage manager. 
Lieutenant Thomas, decided that a regimental show was 
obtainable and asked sexeral B Batterymen to report lor 
rehearsals. The now famous Buckeye entertainers, who 
played to so many packed houses throughotit eastern 
France, was formed in this manner 

After the success of the big party Christmas I^ay it 
was immediately decided to arrange for some sort ol 
entertainment tor the next holiday. New '^'ear's Day, 
Through the agency of George White all the boxers and 
wrestlers in the Battery were lined up and started training 
in preparation tor a big athletic show. 

Most of the Battery spent New 'I'ear's morning in bed, 
for after properly assisting in the birth of the baby year, 
1919, there were few who felt equal to the task of getting 
up for breakfast 

Dinner was served at tw/o P, i\l and it was almost a 
replica of the big feed of Christmas Day; plenty of good 
substantial eats and a surprising side line of trimmings; 
chocolate, cigarettes and tobacco all donated by the "Y," 
the Red Cross, and the K. of C. 

It was an enthusiastic crowd indeed that filed down the 
hill to the Theatre Comique in a light rain New ^'ear's 
Eve to enjo\- the offerings of the [5 Battery "pugs," and 
it was a \-ery well satisfied bunch that scrambled back up 
to their bunks in the "wee sma" hours of the morning. 
It was quite an inno\ation for the batterymen to be 
allowed freedom until one and two A. M. but not a man 
was seen to go to sleep during the performance 

l^^b-^ was a new year but it brought no new questions 
or rumors to the Battery. The same old questions were 
being asked and the same old rumors, with some little 
additions possibly, were being spread about, "When are 
we going home^" was answered in several different ways. 



each man taking his pick ot the rumors and spreading 
them in real literary style throughout the [3atter\'. 
Some might say that it was an understood fact at head- 
quarters that the regiment was to sail January 15th, 
and, before the rumor died its eventual natural death, 
every officer in the brigade would be quoted as saying the 
same thing. Some placed the date so far ahead as March 
I 5th but they naturally did not ha\ e many listeners when 
they began to expound on the ad\ antages of crossing the 
ocean at that time of the year 

The rumors of an early departure died suddenly, 
when on the 12th of Jantiary. the second group of leave 
men started lor Vals les Bains. They were A. V. Ritter, 
J. M Jackson, E G, Hirleman, m" M, Shere. W, D. 
Vaughn, lom Michael, Harry Slater, "Duke" '^'ork, 
"F^at" Lynch, llrland Outland, George Nycamp and 
Guy W. Price It was three weeks later when they 
returned, some with pleasant memories of an e\'entful 
trip and some who cieclared that the trip in the dirty, 
cold cars that they traveled in was more than worth the 
rest they had, but it was better than staying on the hill 
all the time and that was about all the majority of the 
boys said about their trip, except that they were sort of 
disappointed as they did not get to see the famous Aix les 
Bains or Nice. 

I he day after the bunch left on their turloughs the 
corps inspector, whose coming had been anticipated for 
se\eral days, as he had been inspecting the 135th and 
1 3bth regiments just previously, paid the outfit a \isit. 
Some wild stories had been circulated concerning the 
severity of his inspections, and for two weeks pre\-ious to 
his visit the Battery was in the throes of cleaning materiel, 
harness and what not. The guns and carriages were 
cleaned and greased, the harness w as oiled alter a thorough 
application of saddle soap until e\ery bit ol eqtupment 
was in the finest condition it had ever been during the 
time It had been in possession of the Battery, Day after 
day the cleaning continued so that by the time the in- 
spector did arrive every buckle and strap was shining, 
and the most exacting inspector in the A L V . must ha\-e 
been pleased with the result. 

When he came — he casually glanced around and 
walked away — and the inspection was 
o\er. The hard work of days was tor 
naught, but that is the way of inspec- 
tions, and was but a part ot the okl 
army game. The higher the rank ot 
the inspector the greater the prep- 
arations for his coming and the less 
exacting the inspection. Had it been 
a shavetail assigned to the inspec- 
ting there is no doubt that some con- 
siderable fuss would have been created. 

January 22nd and 23rd were big days in the history 
of the Battery in FM-ance, They presaged going home, 
for on those days the hea\ier pieces of the materiel and 




I'hc Ilcd (iiiidoii 



Page !)J 



mv h ol th' harness was turncel hack to a sahage depot. 
It wa-. a saJ \et jonIliI parting, sad — because of the fact 
thit t'T o'd 7i> \\hi;h th; cannoneers had almost learned 



to lo\ 



lea\ini; joyful 



;;ause of the promise of 



h::'meth3t it brought. "Pea;e Terms. " "Calamity Jane. 
"Bu:key; Girl" and "Buziard" were leax'ing those who 
had ro careiully wat;h;d and groomed them during the 
month, in f-'rance. 

It is statjd m the pre\iou^ paragraph that the heaxier 
parts o! the materiel were turned in, and this is actually 
true, lor th.? lighter parts such as bubbles, quadrants and 
hring pins were stored away in ditty bags to be carried 
home as s.)u\enits 

1 h-'ee dcys before thi.- end of January, the Battery 
had a .rcare thrown into it .Meningitis,' that dread 
disease, was supposed to he abroad It 
started down in RaT.blu:in and immcLli- 
ately a quarantine was put on. although 
It is still a question whether or not 
there was meningitis in the \illage. Suf- 
fice to say that all men who had been in 
a certain house down thjre were lorced 
to go to Verdun for tests and about \ 

thirt> iTi n were placed in quarantine in ] 

a building some distance from the Bat- 
tery. E\eryone had to ha\e his 
th oat and nose rprayed twice dailv 1 wo 
days alter the cuaiartine went on, the ** 
men who had gene on furloughs ix- 
tuiiLd alt r spending rc\en da\s at a 
re'-O t and ele\tn da\s m cokl bo,\ ears 
— f a\ cling. 

Old Dame Rumor was again on the 
job, with one to th: effect that the L|uar- 
anfnewas to last two weeks, so imagine ^ ' 

th(? 'urprise then, when on February Ird mo\ ing orders 
rrr \;:d !or the ne.\t morning. No pen can portray the 
icy that pre\-ailed that night ,\t last, after four long 
weary months on the "hill that CotI forgot," and which 
mary men bclie\ed the CI H. Q. ne\er knew about, the 
Battel y was ready to lea\e. Hom.e — that greatest and 
dearest ol all things in the world — was drawing nearer 

The Battery was up at fi\ e on the morning of the 4th 
packs were made, the billets cleaned and trucks loaded 
With kitchen and Q. M. stuff. .At nine o'clock, packs 
w.re shouVkrcd an^l they were hea\\- packs too, from 
being wvigleted down with sou\enirs, and the Battery 
started clown the hill an^l away on a nineteen kilometer 
hike. The Colonel was ^riling as he re\iewed the 
regiment as it paESn.!. the hand playing "Home Sweet 
Home " 

I he route lay through Recouit, Tilly and Bouqtie- 
mont, and at two thirty m the afternoon the outfit lagged 
into Bannoncourt. where they entrained. Everyone was 
mighty tired and hungr\' and that meal of boiled beans, 
serveel three hours later, tasted e.xtremelv good. 




The railroad on which the journc\- was started, was 
a little spur that ran from St, Mihiel to \ erdun. It had 
been a German prize for four years and was onl\- opened 
lor traffic shorth' before the Armistice was signe^l It 
had suffered somewhat at Bannoncourt from the .American 
shelling but was in condition to run an occasional train 
on alter the Cierman P G's had filled up all the shell 
holes on the right-of-wa>e 

Cowing to the lack of speed shown by the otfier regi- 
ments in getting away from this entraining point, the 
lUth was held up here until fixe F' M, While waiting 
lor oixlers to move some of the bo\s made a tour of the 
wrecked \illage. The ruins of the church in this place 
was one of the freaks of war, for its steeple, after being 
struck by a big shell, had hurtled to the ground and pierced 
It like an arrow head 

After the 135th and Mi th regi- 
ments had entrained and lelt, the busi- 
ness ol loading and starting the I Mth 
on their wa\ began Issuing rations and 
luel and ol loading the regiment, thir- 
t\- men to a car, was starte^l at (our P. 
M . an^l at ti\e P i\ ! the tram was on 
- • » Its way, while the other regiments had 
been laboring since morning to get away 
^S***^ b\- lour P \1 Colonel Bush was high- 
ly complimented on the speed ol his or- 
ganization 

1 he first leg of the journex home 

starte^l out xery sloxxly, and under anx 

other contlitions there wotikl haxe been 

a lot ol lault founi.1 with the operatum 

ol the railroad, as the onlx real spee^l 

shown on the entire journex' was that 

displayed bx' the men m loa^lmg, lor at 

midnight, when most ol the men xxent to their corner to 

try to get a little sleep, the train had only run as far as 

St. Mihiel, a distance of about twelve kilos. 

With twenty-eight or thirty men in each car there 
was not xerx' mtieh room for recreation and especiallx 
after room had been reser\ed for the stoxe an^l fuel In 
these 2Q' x 7' cars it was impossible for all to rest at once 
so the sleeping was done like guard dtitxe le\' reliefs. .After 
remaining twd m a knot for an iTOiir or txxo it x\as inLlecLl 
a relief to get up and readjust the misplaced xertihrae 
and axxaken the pedal extremities xxhich persiste^l in 
sleeping on and on The fires were kept going all the 
time tor there xxas i^lentx o( coal, and coal xxas a fuel 
that the Batterxmen had not had the prix ilege to burn 
since cfjmmg to Prance. 

About noon of the second day the tram stoj^pe^l at 
Nleufchateau for some time and inasmuch as the te)\xn 
contained a large Red Cross canteen and a ^' M C. A 
base, the fellows left the train going in all directions for 
chocolate and cakes. .After a delay of about two hours 
the tram finally pulled out of the town xerx' quietly; so 



Pagt^ 96 



The Red Guidon 



quietly in iact that two-thircis of B Battery's buglers. 
Stagg, r-"outs and Dave Berson did not hear it going and 
so were left behind, eating cookies at the Red Cross 
canteen. The little toy train crept slowly, very slowly, 
on Its wa\- and by nightfall it hatl only reached Troyes. 
a distance that e\en an Erie train would ha\e covered m 
two hours. 

The third day's journeN' did not carr\' the Battery over 
any greater distance than the preceding ones either. At 
every junction there was always a delay of an hour or 
two and by se\en P. M. they were onh' as far as Bourges. 
The "Battle of Bourges" will li\e long in the memories 
of many of the Batterymen but hardly needs mention as 
a historical e\ent. The long loaves of bread that the 
hoys bought in the "Care" and the cheese and sardines 
that went with it created a lot of merriment in the cars 
for it v,'as almost impossible to get one of these loaves of 
bread into the little cars without break- 
ing it- There were no prisoners taken 
in this "battle" but Major Schlegel was 
making a \iolent effort to take some 
when the train ptilled out. It would 
have been all right, he said, if the (el- 
lows had not left the empty case on 
the platform and broken the bottles on 
the track. 

The last day's trip was through a 
\ery beautiful part of the country and 
the slow tra\eling of the train was not 
noticed so much. After going through 
the outskirts ol Tours, a \ery pic- 
turesque city, the road wound around 
the side of a hill of \ari-colored sand- 
stone in the valley of the Loire. Along 
this route, especially in the \icinity 
of Langeais, the houses and storerooms w'ere built 
in the face of sheer cliffs somewhat on the order of the 
ancient elift-Llwellers homes in America, onh' much more 
modern. 

At two P. M. the train stopped in the station at Angers 
and one look at that city caused man\- batterymen to 
wish for just one day in the place. It was thought that 
the destination was somewhere near this beautiftil city, 
but as the train startei.1 out in a northeasterly direction, 
there was some doubt in the minds of the fellows as to 
whether the brench crew.' knew just v.here they were going 
or not. At Segre the train was put on a siding and the 
men told to prepare to spend the night there, as the 
railroad that ran to Le Lion cle Angers, the destination 
of the 1 34th, was very lightly bi.iilt and the ollicials would 
not allow the large American engine that had been pulling 
the train, to run on these tracks, so a French engine had 
to be sent from Angers and it was not to arri\e until 
morning. 

After a night spent tr\ing to pass the guards and 
get into the town to iiet something to eat. the men were 




in bad humor the next morning, when the French engine 
failed to arri\e until noon. Once started on the short 
trip to the little \illage of Le Lion de Angers it took very 
few hours to arrive and at two o'clock the regiment 
unloaded at the station of what was to be their home for 
the next month. 

News of their coming had evidently preceded the 1 34th 
to this town for it was bedecked in its holiday garb in 
honor of the first American soldiers to locate there. There 
was a hike ahead for B Battery which was rumored to be 
from four to fotirteen kilometers long but it was somewhat 
of a surprise to the Batterymen when after a walk of 
about three kilometers, they were given "Column Right " 
into the grounds of a beautiful chateau. 

Chateau clu Mas owned by the Baron Chalet was the 
final halt on the fi\'e-day journey from Rambluzin and 
the barn on the estate was the billets for the Battery. 
Although the new home was a barren, 
cold-looking affair when the boys ar- 
med, the ability to make a home out of 
nothing, that B Battery had displayed 
throughout its career, was evidenced in 
the next few days when stoves were set 
up and the bunks arranged in good or- 
(.ler around the walls. 

I'he huge barn of the chateau was 
not large enotigh to accommodate the 
entire Battery so some of the men 
were assigned to the "sheep barn,' 
which was indeed a chilly looking dom- 
icile. But, as the others had done in 
the big barn, these men of the filth 
section did to this home of the sheep. 
Two days after the arrival of the Bat- 
terymen at the chateau, the Baron did 
not know his own barns. The sheep barn, a structure about 
thirty-five feet high was renovated and turned into a gym- 
nasium at one end and a first class hotel at the other. Baron 
Chalet placed his little lake at the disposal of the Battery- 
men but since he had told them that there were nothing 
but "la grande carpe " in the pool there was no time 
wasted in fishing, and as it was too cold to enjoy a swim, 
the offer was not acceptecL The genial host of B Battery 
seemed \'ery much interested in the doings of the outfit 
and expressed real regret when the time came for them 
to lea\e. 

1 here were no restrictions on going in to the \illage 
of Le Lion and while the Battery was at the chateau at 
least sixty per cent of the men were there every night. 
Some were able to get passes to the city of Angers, 
making the trip on the little railroad that ran through the 
\illage. 1 his v.'as an education to the lucky ones for 
there they were gi\en a wonderful contrast between 
the devastated district which they had just recently left 
and the beautiful western citN which had suffered nothing 
— physicalK. The regimental minstrel show was re- 



The Red Guidon 



Page .97 



organized and taken to Angers for a week and this allowed 
the B Battery minstrels to enjoy an exceptional privilege. 

Hikes were made to the surrounding towns, where 
American soldiers were a curiosity, and through such 
beautiful country that the Batterymen were quite un- 
mindful of the distance co\ered, save on one occasion. 
That was shortly after the return of Lieutenant Wise, 
when he marched the Battery at attention for about six 
kilos and then made his now famous "Labor Battalion" 
speech. 

The last week at the chateau was an e\'entful one for 
the Battery for it was then that the real preparation for 
going home started. Inspectors from every part of the 
district looked o\er the equipment and men were all 
subjected to the delousing process. The Baron had open 
house for all the officers of the regiment and served some 
of his fine cider to the entire Battery one e\ening as a 
sort of farewell. The 134th Band played on this occa- 
sion and the Baron and Baroness were delighted. 

At five-thirty on the morning of the 7th of March, 
the Battery was lined up with all their belongings for 
another hike which was a long one indeed. Trucks were 
furnished to carry the packs and so the Batterymen did 
not anticipate such a hard journey. The start from the 
village was made at eight A. M. with the villagers all out 
waving good-bye to the first Americans they had e\'er been 
acquainted with. 

The trip to Chateau Gontier was one of twenty-four 
kilos over a fine hard road and with everyone in fine 
spirits it was one of the most enjoyable in the history 
of the Battery and when the men lined up beside the 
cars and were ser\ed hot chocolate by the "^'. M. C. A. 
ladies they pronounced it an enjoyable trip indeed. 

The train that was to carry the Battery on this, the 
last o\erland trip in France, was what was known as a 
"shuttle train ' — a train of American box cars pulled by 
an American engine, that worked like a shuttle between 
Brest and the concentration camps in that district. 
With these large cars to ride in the Batterymen antici- 
pated a much more comfortable trip than the previous 
ones, but they were doomed to disappointment, for 
fifty-six men were assigned to a car and it made them 
just as much crowded as the twenty-eight men in the 
little French cars. 

The Battery mess-fund had been spent lor chocolate 
and cigarettes and just before the train pulled out of the 
yards the "ever-ready" cooks issued these luxuries to 
the men, so when they started on the way at three-thirt\- 
that afternoon e\-eryone was in the best of spirits. The 
cars were equipped with sto\es and plenty of fuel and 
there was no danger of the men getting cold on this 
short journey. 

The arri\al at Brest the following morning in a driz- 
zling rain brought that place up to the expectations of the 
boys for they had heard many tales of the inclement 
weather there. The breakfast at the embarkation camp 



also li\ed up to the standard anticipated by the Battery- 
men but they soon found that their first mess in that camp 
was not an example of the standard. The hike up the 
long winding hill to the Pontanezen barracks far surpassed 
expectations for it was a thing not counted on before. 
Six miles almost entirely up hill was enough to dampen 
the spirits of anyone especially when carr;>ing packs of 
the size that most of the men had on their backs. 

Upon entering the large camp on the hill the fellows 
were treated to their first surprise. Contrary to the 
reports they had received, the streets were not mud holes 
but were covered by board-walks, usually called "^luck- 
walks." In the tents to which they were assigned they 
found another contradiction to reports inasmuch as they 
did not ha\e to sleep in the mud. Only six men were 
placed in one tent and cots were pro\ ided tor all which 
was more than the Batterymen had enjoyed anywhere 
in F" ranee. Of course there was plenty of mud in the 
camp but in the usual line of duty it could be a\oided. 
In a district where it rains three hundred days in a \ear 
It must be expecteci that there will be some mud. 

With the arri\al of the Battery in this camp more 
rumors of home-going were in circulation and for once 
they were pro\en true lor in spite of the fact that the 
entire 37th Di\ ision was encamped in that camp awaiting 
orders to embark, it was the 1 34th f"ield Artillery that 
was the first to get started. 

The Batteries of the regiment were divided into 
detachments which were to be assigned to the demobiliza- 
tion camp nearest their home in America. B Battery's 
largest detachment was, of course, to Camp Sherman 
since most of the men were from Akron or the vicinity. 
Then there were detachments for Camp Upton and Camp 
Dix that were to muster out the men from the cast, near 
their homes. I'he Camp Green and Camp 1 aylor 
detachments took care of the men from the south and 
west , 

The first ship to sail was the New Hampshire U. S. N., 
and could only accommodate tweh-e hundixxl men so the 
detachments bound lor 
Camp Sherman (the 
Headquarters Compan\, 
Supply Company and A 
and B Batteries), were 
called out on the morn- 
ing of March 12th to load 
on this battle ship. There 
were one hundred twenty- 
four men and three of- 
cers in B Battery's Ohio 

detachment thus taking about sexenty percent of the 
entire strength of the organization on the first ship. 1 he 
other men were supposed to follow on the next ship that 
left but such was not their fate 

These detachments mo\ed out of camp about ten 
A. M. after making a false attempt about two hours 




The Red Guidon 



Page 99 



earlier and started on the Llown-hill hike to the docks 
where the farewell to Prance was to be said. I he trip 
to the city was not over the same course as the one from 
that place, hut o\'er a \er\' rough and muddy road that 
took the men about a mile farther aroi.ini.1, but since it 
was to be the last hike in k ranee no one objected in the 
least. 

A wait of about an hour for the lighters to make read\ 
for their human cargo anei then the Battery mo\ed in 
single file to the docks. Walking clown the piers the hoys 
were handed a pair ol home-made socks full of candy, 
cigarettes and tobacco, by the Red Cross ladies there. 
These were slung around the neck and the line moved on 
until the entire contingency was loaded on the little 
lighter and the trip out into the harbor was started. 

The U. S. S. New Hampshire was far abo\e the expec- 
tations of the men who hud heard so many disagreeable 
things about the na\ y and it.s methods. 1 he crew was a 
\ery congenial bunch of fellows and before the ship left 
the harbor, friendships were tornu\l and the soldiers on 
board felt \ery much at home 

Aside from a few sea sick men w ho seemed unable to 
o\ercome the tendency to riish for the rail or lie around 
on deck the twel\e days spent on board the New Hamp- 
shire were the first twelve days of America Everything 
was so decidedly American, from the meals to the mo\ ing 
picture shows on deck, and much interest was taken in 
the chart on each deck that marked the course of the ship 
and ga\e the days rtm e\er\' noon. The canteen, at 
which the men were able to bti\- real apples and good 
American cand\ . was \er\ well patronizeci. too. The 
"mo\ies" were a great treat to the fellows and were well 
attended e\'ery afternoon and e\ ening 

The smokers that were held twice, while the I^attery 
was on board, were affairs that made the ship seem nunc 
like a little cit\ than e\er before. Several Batterymen 
participated in these bouts and the entertainments were 
always well received. The Chief Petty Officer's farewell 
party to which some of the [3atter>'men were invitcil was 
the crowning success of the trip an^l proved beyond doubt 
that the crew was a great bunch from the captain down. 

.At noon on the eleventh dav, when the bulletin 
announced that the distance to America was only two- 
hundred fifty miles and that that distance could be 
covered before noon the following da\ , there was great 
rejoicing among the soldiers on board I he prospect 
of again seeing the shores of God's countrv appealed to 
them, in fact it appealed to some so much that they 
stayed on deck all night so they could see the lights in 
the early morning, for the sailors had said this would be 
possible 

When the men all got on deck before breakfast ne.\t 
morning March 24th. the horizon was literally lined with 
flashing lights from the lighthouses at Cape May, Cape 
Henry and other perilous projections along the coast. 
All morning the rails were lined with eager faces looking 



landward each trving to get the IJrst glimpse of "terra 
lirma. " By eleven A M. the shore could Ix- plamU seen 
and shortly after noon the anchor w as cast in the harbor ot 
Newport News. \'a. Mess was called and Served with 
most of the men standing on deck gazing fonLlly at the 
shore or at the tugs full of home lolks. who had come out 
into the harbor to meet the ship, ignoring the urgent 
calls to "come and get it. " 




Alxiut two l-". M, the ship slid into the dock and the 
business ol saying good-bye to their friends on l^oard 
kept the Batterymen busy until the orders were given to 
make readv' to unload, (letting oft the ship was the 
easiest thing those fellows ever did in their army career 
for in ten minutes after the order had been given, the 
New Hampshire was free of soldiers. 

The hike to the camp, four miles awav' was a mere 
pleasure jaunt to the men as thev walked through the 
streets lined with welcoming residents of Newport News. 
■At home' In an .American citv with American people 
all aroun^l and American streets to walk on' \\ hat more 
could be w ishccP 1 kkl it been m the l-verglades of 
Florida that the ship ha^l lan^kxl at it would have been 
America to the Battervmen who walked on air in their 
exuberance ol jov' m being almost home. 

Camp Stuart was a camp of the same type as Camp 
Upton where B flattery spent their last days before 
leaving for f' ranee The billets to which the Battery was 
assigned were of the same structure but the accommoda- 
tions were nuich better. Roads through the camp were 
well kept and the Y \l C. A,. K. of C. and l-led Cross 
huts more plentiful The LibertV' theatre was the same 
sort of large buikling that was seen at L'pton ani-l held 
the same sort of good shows. 

As usLial there was the inspection of clothing an^.! 
equipment to be gone through with and another trip to 
the "LleloLiser. ' but this was easy for it promised to be 
the last m the armv , Necessary clothing was issued 
and the Battery was all dressed up to parade. Liie 
those days was ver\- easy and at last B Battery had 
found a real rest camp although they had come back 
to the L'nited States to find it. There was no drill 
and nothing but inspections and moving orders were 



Page WO 



The Red Guidon 



left to worry about, so naturally the men worried 
about them. A very timely pay-day came March 
31st and when the orders came to entrain the next day, 
e\eryonc was in fair financial condition 

At ten A. M, April 1st the train, carrying the home- 
ward bound B Batterymen, pulled out of C^amp Stuart 
and was on its way up the Chesapeake Bay to Washington, 
D. C, I'he Red Cross canteens along the way served the 
hungry men Just the things that they had wanted so long 
and did all in their power to make the journey pleasant. 
After the trips made throughout France in those little 
box cars, the pullmans that carried them on this, their 
last trip in the army, were like rolling palaces and every 
one took adxantage of the opportunity to sleep enroute. 

In Pittsburgh the next morning a long wait was made 
on the outskirts of the cit\' to allow the second section 
of the train to catch up. touring the night the train had 
coxcred a distance that wotild ha\c taken a F->ench train 
two days. When the lost section caught up the two 
were united and the journey continued through the little 
PennsyKania towns anci at last into Ohio, 'loungstown. 
Alliance, Ra\enna and Akron Junction where a few ol 
the towns that had been notified that the train was on 
the way and residents of these places were down to greet 
the boys, lo George Harris goes the honor ol greeting 
the first Akron folks for as soon as the train entered the 
yards. George was hailed by one of his old friends on a 
passing switch engine and as the train pulled past the 
station he saw his two sisters frantically w'a\ing a fruit 
cake at him There was no stop made in Akron nor at 
any station until the tram pulled into the B. &. O station 
in C.le\ eland quite unexpectedly. 1 he blow ing of whistles 
and ringing of bells soon announced the arrival to the 
city and by the time the train stopped there were several 
thousand people scanning the faces in the car windows 
looking lor a familiar one. 

Since the parade in Cleveland was not to be until the 
following da\' the Batterymen were allowed their freedom 
until eleven P. M. unless they had relatives or friends 
in Cleveland m which case they were allowed until 
seven A. M. the next morning. Some under pretense of 
having relatives in the Sixth City took a flyer to Akron 
that afternoon while others just lookei.1 around and thor- 
oughly enjoyed themsehes in getting acc|uainted with 
American habits again. 

The day for the parade threatened to be a bad one 
in the early morning and incleed the threat was carried 
out to the best of the ability of one j. Pkuius. In spite 
of the rain the crowds along the line were enormous and 
very enthusiastic. As the column filed into the court 
house and threw clown their packs they were informed 
that the next thing on the program was a big feed given 
by the Red Cross ladies in the Armory across the street. 
There was a wait of about an hour before the feast was 
ready but after filling up on the chicken, and many other 



things that were prepared for them, the Batterymen 
declared it well worth the wait, 

brom the .Armory the men were again dismissed until 
eleven P. M. in Cleveland or until seven A, M, in Akron 
in case anybody wanted to take an early train to the City 
of Opportunitv' and meet the Battery train in the morning 
when it came down. A great many took advantage of 
this chance to spend an evening with the folks at home 
and the trains and trolleys were all loaded with B Battery- 
men that afternoon. 

W hen the Battery lined up the following morning to 
parade the streets of Akron every man tried to look his 
best and as they started down Main street they were a 
proud looking bunch 

After the short parade through the streets of the 
"Rubber" cit\', the Batterymen were again marched to 
an armor\-, this time to the O, N, G, Armory on High 
street, and set down to another grand feast, stich as only 
mothers know how to prepare, and how those fellows did 
eat' Irom the fruit cocktail to the nuts they were busy 
and when there was nothing left on their plates the one- 
time-hungr\ enjoyed the rare privilege of refusing seconds. 

In the l.'ialcony above the auditorium, where the meal 
was served, were the mothers, sisters, wives and "certain 
parties" whose eager and admiring faces peered down on 
the happy artillerymen so l^usily engaged in the massacre 
of the dinner before them. Colonel Bush made a short 
announcement to the effect that the train would leave 
Akron that evening at ten P. M. and every man must 
report at that time, but their time was their own until 
then. Alter that wonderful ice-cream and cake the men 
left the Armory going in all directions with their friends 
or relatives to spend their first few hours in .Akron with 
them. 

Those Batterymen whose homes were not in the city, 
an^l who were comparative strangers in the place, were 
taken care of by the congenial .Akronites who picked 
them tip along the way and motored them all over the 
city and m many cases keeping them tor an evening 
dinner at their homes. Akron, will long he remembered 
by all the soldiers who were present on the day of the 
1 .34th l-ield .'\rtillery parade 

Although the train was scheduled to leave Akron at 
eleven P. M. that evening it was not until almost midnight 
that it fJnallv pulled out Everyone was very tired for 
It had been a very strenuous day and the berths were 
nearly all occupied when L^arberton. Orrville, and other 
little cities went flying by the car windows. Some time 
during the early morning the train pulled into the Colum- 
bus yards and the cars were set Just below the Wilson 
avenue bridge. When the boys awoke that morning it 
was to the tunc of Mike's whistle, calling them out to 
form for the parade. 

The line was formed and the Battery moved up street 
to take their place in the parade with the many other 
organizations, both military and civilian, who were to 



o 



The Red Guidon 



l\i(jr 101 



pass in rexiew. It was without i^loiiht the largest parade 
that B Battery had ever taken part in, hut it was to be 
the last one so they started out with hcaLJs up and a smile 
on every face. It was not a tiresome hike h\ an>- means. 
and although they column-marched and counter-marched 
o\-er the same streets, the enthusiastic populace who 
lined the curbs and filled the air with their applause 
served to relie\e any tired feeling the men might ha\e 
felt. Not until the large re\iewing stand was reached 
did the men show any sign of fatigue and then it was 
fatigue caused by the inaction of listening to the speaking 
that was barely intelligible at the distance they were 
from the speaker. 

Speeches were made by Governor C"o.\, Mayor i\olb, 
General Glenn of the 83rd Di\ision and General I'arns- 
worth of the 37th [^i\ision. They were all highly com- 
plimentary in their references to the artillerymen but 
little of their speeches could be heard by B Battery w hich 
was some distance from the stand Gradually the ranks 
began to thin out and before the speaking was all done 
most of the B Batterymen were on their way to the cars 
to relieve themsehes of their packs and to enjoy the 
balance of the day in their own way. Those who stayed 
were again treated to a fine lunch gi\en by the Columbus 
Red Cross ladies, this time right out in the open air 
along Broad Street. 

Theatres, dances and pri\ate parties attracted the 
men from the cars for the balance of the day and the 
streets of Columbus were crowded with pleasure-bent 
returning aitiller\men The Chamber ol Commerce 
ga\e a dance in the Memorial Hall that e\cning to which 
all the men were in\ ited. [-"lenty of girls were guaranteed, 
for the different girls' auxiliaries had promised to turn out 
for the affair in a body — and they did. For once in a 
long time the soldiers attended a dance where the ladies 
outnumbered the men. Colonel Bush, who was present, 
e\en had to remind the men that there were girls there who 
were not dancing. "Here, you artillerymen, come o\er 
here and dance with these girls" said the Colonel much to 
the discomfiture of the ladies in question. It was after 
midnight when the men finally began to file down High 
street to the w,aiting cars btit they were unanimous in 
declaring their day in Columbus a grand success. 

The departure from Columbus was made Just as the 
entry had been — unknown to most of the occupants of 
the train. It was just getting light when the men were 
awakened on a siding in Camp Sherman and told to pack 
e\erything and get ready to lea\e the cars for good in 
fifteen minutes. The first look at Camp Sherman 
assured the Batterymen that it was not going to be such 
a bad place to spend their last days in the army. A 
speedy discharge had been promised the bo\s, but then 
there had been other promises in the army, too, and few 
of them had ever been fulfilled, so it was of little moment 
whether the discharges came in the promised five days 
or if it took them two weeks to arrive. It was the last 



promise thai the army would e\ei ha\e an opportunity to 
break, and, since the camp looked so comfortable, the 
stay there promised to be a very pleasant one. 

After the preliminary examination, at the entrance 
of the camp, the Batterymen were marched almost across 
the camp and assigned to \ery comfortable billets. 
Camp Sherman was another real rest camp for there were 
\ery few details called for. the \oluntary ones in helping 
in the w-riting of the discharges and other paper work, 
beinu mainly predominant. Two men were Lletailed to 
the kitchen every day, but it was not the usual sort of 
dirty kitchen work that they were called upon to do, for 
there w.as running water in the place and plenty of help 
to clean up. l-'or the most of the time there was nothing 
to do but sta\- near the barracks and sign papers in 
connection with the Llemobilization work. 

The kiberty theatres, the 1'. M. C, .\. huts, the Red 
Cross, the K. of C. recreation rooms and the Communit\- 
House were \ery attracts e to the men who lound so 
much to do right in camp that they ne\er th(-ught of 
going to town, as the\' had done in all the other camps 
they were e\er m Ihere was c\er\thing anLi more, 
right in Camp Sherman, than could be found an>' nearer 
than Columbus, sixtN' miles away. 

1 he meals were' abo\e reprciach and since there were 
no formations or calls it was a life of ease in this camp. 

Work on the i.lemobilization papers started Sunday, 
.April bth, as soon as the billets were assigned and Corporal 
Youngs could get his t\pewriter our of its case, and it 
was an eager buneb \\h> worked all that day and most of 
the night an^l staite^l in the next morning, where they 
left off. and when they sat back Monday night and 
looked satisfactorily at their work, which was finished 
far ahead of time, the\ hael e\ery reason to be proud of 
their handiwork. 

There seemed to be nothing to do but wait now lor 
the "pt)wers that be" to say the word that woukl mean 
the last trip to the paymaster. Clothing had been 
turned m as well as all equipment, but there remained 
the mess-kits anei blankets. Wednesday the lookeel for 
order came, and the Battery was ordered to report at 
the paymaster's building earh' the following morning, 
so the remaining go\ernment property was turned in at 
once, and the last night in the arm\' was made one to be 
remembereel by the fact that it was spent — as many 
men spent their first one -either on the floor or on bare 
cots. 

"khiirsLlay, .April 10, b1|Q' -there is but one date 
that can e\er retain a place beside it in the memories of 
B Batterymen and that is, prol:^abl\-, the date of tlieir 
enlistment, whatc\er it ma>- ha\e Ixen When the 
fellows Imeel up for the last time that morning there 
were many half-hearted jibes and jests thrown about the 
pleasure the last day was giving them, but, if the truth 
were known, there were \ery few who lined up for the 
last time without regrets. l-'or o\er two years these 



P(Ujc 102 



The lied (iiiidon 



men had all lincxl up loi- lormaticins together, had eaten 
mess together, antl slept in the same harraeks or di.i.'.;-outs 
together, anel, now — they were there lor the last time 
with Sei'geant "Mike" Greene's whistle elangling uselessh 
iVom his shoiileler, lor he ha^l blown it loi' the last time m 
B l^atterv- 

I he line mo\ed across the camp to the C'llice of the 
paymaster and — the story is almost enekxl I here was 
a wait ot about an hour before the officials were read\' to 
receive them, so the Batterymen spent this time in talking 
over their prospects for the future with their friends, hi 
a nearby barracks the cooks had prepared hot coffee and 
sandwiches lor the waiting men. and those not too much 
excited, took acKantage o! this opportunity to get one 
last hit at the expense of LIncle Sam, 

B Battery was called and the business of becoming 
civilians started about ele\en A, \1 that morninti an^l 



by eleven-thirt\' e\ery man was out of the buikling and 
on his way with his discharge, bonus, anel transportation 
money, together with the pay for the ten days in April 
eluring which the hardest work they had done was break 
away from home to get to Camp Sherman, 

Thus ended the career of the one-time B Battery of 
the First Ohio Field Artillery and the later B Battery of 
the I 34th U. S. F~ield Artillery just three \ears, four months 
and twenty-five days after the day of its organization. 
During its days in ser\'ice it had an en\ iable record and 
an enviable personnel to uphold that record at all times, 
[friendships were formed in the Battery that will live 
long after most people ha\-e forgotten that such an organ- 
ization e\er existed, E\'en today the boys are getting 
together and having little dinners and meetings of the 
organization that may some day ha\e a charter w.ith the 
same title that the Akron outfit startCLl out with. B 
Batter\- .Association, 



FI NIS 




llic Red (iiiidon 



Page lor, 



The 37th Division 



WHAT combination ol fates ani^i general oixicrs kept 
apart durinp the war, the Aki'on hilantrymen anel 
the Akron Batter\^ It lias al\\a\s been af;recd among the 
soldiers of the Thirty-seventh [division, that the history 
of the two branches oi the Division sliotikl ha\ e been one 
But it was not. The men of Captain Sam Cole of Com- 
pany B as well as the hoys of the other Akron organiza- 
tions. Company F, Machine Gun, and others will tell you 
they'd have given much in the Argonne drne for a sight 
of the Ohio Field Artillerx', Likewise the men of the 
.Akron Battery wotikl ha\e gi\en their last package of 
hard breacl tcjr the chance to get behind the Akron Dough- 
bo\s in their great o(tensi\es m the .Argonne an^l in 
Belgium. 

Today, "after the great war, the historx ol both the 
Battery and the lnlantr\- C'ompanies is known eeiualK 
well to the Iriends of all the .Akron soldiers. 

Companies B an^l h ancl the .Akron Machine Gun 
Company with the 14cith lnfantr\ Hospital unit and the 
I4bth Band composed mosth' ol .Akron bo\s, reached 
France on June 23rd, b^^lS. alxjut two weeks ahead of 
Battery B. Almost immcLliately they were hurried to 
the eastern part of I ranee in the Baccarat area for a few 
weeks' training in trench warfare In the Baccarat sec- 
tor the boys saw their lirst high explosive, (irst air 
bombs, carried back their lirst wotindecl and buried 
their first dead, brom a position in the lower end ot 
the sector, where they first made camp, the Akron men 
gradually moved into the battle zone, then later into 
the reserve trenches and final I v into the Iront lines 
They spent many dreary weeks ol the summer ot F^18 
holciing the lines in the A'osges ani.1 when orders to 
move toward the .Arg(.>nne k)rest came, the boys were 
gla^l to go. line Akron Infantrv Companies together 
with the rest of the 37th, began their movement toward 
the scene of the greatest American offensive on Septem- 
ber Ifith I hey drew up on a line above Avoeourt, 
which was to be their jumping ofl pnint, a week or so 
later, and on September 2oth were assembled for the 
start into the Germans' great stronghokl m the Argonne 

WOOi-ls. 

1 he 37th was given seven ^lavs m which to reach 
Cierges, a town several kilometers behin^l the C icrmans' 



works at Mnntlaticon 1 he doughboys, without the aid 
of artillerv except on one or two occasions during the 
drive, reachetl Cierges an^l were camping arountl the hills 
of their objective on September l'^W\. foLir elavs after the 
start, 1 hey w ere reliev clI immcLliately ani.1 complimente^l 
After the Argonne the Infantrvmen were sent to one 
of the so-callcLl quiet sectors or rest camps where thev 
held the lines in the St, Mihiel sector 1 he sector was 
not so quiet as the officers and men of the Div ision ha^l 
been told. During the short time the boys were m the St. 
Mihiel sector, they engaged jerry on a numlxiol occasions. 
There were many casualties. 

1 he boys were n<it destined to enjoy anv' rest, from 
the St. Mihiel salient, thev' were hurried on foot, and over 
the narrow gauge across France toward the coast where 
thev' were to take part in the English and Belgitim effort 
to etit the Cjcrmany armv' in Belgium. 

1 he .Akron boys part in this offensiv c was an important 
one It developcLl 1 he 37th's objective was the Seheli 
river in Belgium. 1 heir task was to etit the Germans in 
two and cross the river. The men were IiiclI and badly 
in need of rest as thev' began their march throLigh swamps 
an^l over the shell swept roa^ls of I-lanLlcrs I hey met 
some resistance at some places, at other points they were 
unable to keep tip with the last retreating Cierman armv 
On the Schelt river the lerrvs made a standi but onlv until 
the Ohio bovs eatight tip to them Once within rifle 
range of the Cjcrmans again, the clotighbovs Lleliverei.1 the 
punch that sent the Dutch across the river an^l |->ik\l them 
up on the east bank, 1 he Division reachcLl its objective 
carlv' in November an^l there was nothmu to do btit rest 
up a few elavs while the t icrmans were preparing to sign 
the aimisliee, 

.After the armistice the Division witliLlrew Irom 
Belgium ani.1 established itself in b landers to await 
ftirther Llevelopments an^l to wonkier when sailing ori^lers 
wotild come 

1 he boys were LlcstmcLl to wait from Nov emix'r I Ith 
tmtil the mii,l^lle of the following March lor the ship that 
was to carrv them home. Fhc .Akron Infantrvmen 
rcachcLl .Akron on .April ith, b^l'-'', after nearlv' two vears 
in the liekl 1 heir recoixl in fiance was a glorious one 



Page 10 i 



The Red Guidon 



A Letter From the Editors 



There was no reason in the world — 

* + + * 

For writing the Red Guidon — 

* * * * 

Except to escape Kitchen Police — 
And policing France 



* * * * 



* * * * 



And other little odds and ends — 

* * * * 



Like that 



* * * * 



Which soldiers always hate to do 



+ + * * 



We thot there was — 

A Brighter Future ahead of us — 

* * + + 

Than serving Cook Capron's stew - 

* + * * 

And doing "In cadence -exercise" - 

* + * * 

While "Loot" Myers - - 

* * * * 

Counted "One-two-three-four" — 
+ * * * 



Thru his nose — 

So we made up our mini.ls 






To write a book - 



* * * + 






Politics always figured strongly — 

In bringing the Red Guidon — 

+ * + + 



To 



,sful 



a successful enci - 



* * * * 



We always listened to suggestions — 

* + * * 

But seldom used them — 

* * * * 

One night one of the fellows — 

* * * + 

Brot in a carton of Camels — 

+ * * * 

And toLl us what a good fellow he was - 

* * * * 

We smoked the cigarettes — 

* * * * 

And accepted his F"\ill Page photograph ■ 

* * * * 

But we couldn't find room 



In the book for the picture — 

* * * * 



It was too bad. too — 



+ + * * 



It was such a good clear photograph 
* * * * 



The che\ Ton 



* * * * 



Photographed especially well — 



So — here you are — 



* * * * 



* * * * 



We present our book to you — 

* * * * 

With no Apologies — 

* + * ^: 

It is a book — 

* * * + 

Written for the men — 

* * * * 

Sam Brow ne has no more space — 

* * * * 

Than Buck Private — 

* * * * 

LInless he deserves it - - 

* * * * 

If we have brot back to you — 

* * * * 

A Pleasant Remembrance — 

* * * * 

Or a half-forgotten name — 

* * * * 

We have not worked in \ain — 

+ * * * 

If we have done anything — 

* * + * 

To keep the "Old Battery" — 

* * * + 



And the "New Battery" together 

And fuse them — 

Into a permanent fellowship — 









We are amply repaid 






* * * * 



For the pleasant associations 



* * + * 



As members of the staff 



Of the Red Guidon - 



MERCI!!! 



* * * * 



* * * * 



The Red Guidon 



Page Ki.') 



B Battery Spirit 



MUCH has been said and written about morale, of 
"esprit de corps" yet it is doubtful whether this 
quality displayed the same characteristics in any two or- 
ganizations. It is difficult therefore to convey to the reader 
any definite idea of the true significance of the spirit of 
comradeship which comes to exist among fellows at arms. 
It is indefinable in the truest sense and no book of reference 
yet published is capable of giving the reader more than a 
vague idea of the true meaning of this element so essential 
to successful soldiery, "^'et. in every military organiza- 
tion it must and does exist to a greater or less degree 

In B Battery it passed beyond the stage of morale in 
its ordinary conception and became in reality a "Battery 
spirit" which made for pride in the organization and 
confidence in one another, and it is no exaggeration to 
say that where\er the Battery may have been lax, it 
never failed to respond to the call of the spirit which 
dominated each member, new or old 

Why this spirit existed to such a degree is difficult to 
determine, for there were not many things which may 
have contributed to its existence. It was there, however. 
a close open friendship among all, full confidence and 
abiding faith — the unselfish trust that one man learns to 
place in another when they are thrown together intimately 
under similar circumstances and for a common purpose. 



where each man is his neighbors equal. Perhaps here 
we ha\e come as near the real cause as it is possible to do. 

While It IS not true that B Battery was unique in this 
respect, it is undoubtedly a fact that there existed among 
the m_'n who comprised this organization, a spirit, a 
morale which in its e\'eryday application came very near 
being the ideal expression of the mutual friendship and 
trust one finds between men. 

Here then is to be found the one great benefit that 
was derived from the time spent in the ser\ice — the 
friendships formed therein — strong \iril associations that 
comprise the happiest memories of a military career. 
.\nd it is not lost with the discharge of the Battery for in 
e\erv one of those who were in the Battery either on the 
border in the camps in America or who saw service 
abroad, there abides the memory of pleasant friendships 
and an urgent desire to see the "old bunch" together once 
again. 

That is as it should be and it is to be hoped that in 
the years yet before us. none of this spirit will be lost, 
but that as time goes on it shall become stronger and 
that out of B Battery the military organization, there 
shall arise B Battery the social organization that shall 
permit the continuing and the strengthening of the best 
friendships a man e\er enjoyed. 



Tub Lamiell 



TUB Lamiell on the front abo\e Vigneulles one day was 
out in front of the 2nd section piece picking up brush 
for camouflage. 

All at once the second piece opened up and the first 
shell sped over Tub's head about three feet up. Tub 




figured in his confusion the Cjermans hatl got his range 
and were about to drop one around his neck. He made 
a bee-line tor the cover of the 2nd section piece in time to 



meet "round two" coming toward him with a loud howl. 
"Round two" was so close that Tub could ha\'e caught 
it with a catcher's mitt. 

At this time lub was not certain about anything. 
He didn't know whether the Germans or the Batterymen 
were firing at him. Not until he reached the cover of 
the 2nd piece was he able to figure out his mistake. 



X TEARL^' half the Liatterymen boarded cooties in France 
•'■ ^ sometime or another. Bill Brewer took on a batch ot 
cooties in a barracks that had been occupiei.1 before B 
Battery came by both German and French soldiers. 
"And one night the German cooties went over the top 
on my back to get the French cooties and the battle 
became so hot they had to stop and it was a case ol dig 
in on American soil,' said Bill. 



QxevTc Q^ to the ftaces 



A STREET car clangs around the corner of San An- 
tonio Street, El t'aso. Texas, and stops in front of 
the Paso-del-Norte hotel. It hears a sign "Race-Track" ani.1 
the motonnan "steps on it." and pretty soon it's on its w a\' 
through the slum district of El Paso, across the famous 
International bridge and into jaurez, Mexico and through 
its streets swarming with Mexicans, little brown children 
playing in the gutters, "sans" clothes, "sans" everything 
spitogy policemen, and "Abbarotte e Carne" signs. 
The outskirts of the town, a short stretch of mesa and the 
car stops in front of a low-lying white building sprawling 
in the sun, decorated with the flags of the United States 
and Mexico, the grand stand of the Jaurez race track. 

Another picture. Thanksgiving Day, and the opening 
of the one-hundred days' racing season at Jaurez. The 
grandstand a riot of color; the band brilliant in scarlet 
uniforms, has just finished blaring out "Mammy's Li'l 
Coal Black Rose" and o\er in the paddock blanketed 
horses are being exercised. On the other side of the 
track is the judges' stand; and all eyes are glued at a far 
corner of the track where fi\e specks are sweeping near- 
er, rising and falling. As they come nearer, there are 
shouts of; 

"Come on, you General Pickett' Come on'" 

'"Watch that li'l hawse come up. Oh. you baby'" 

"That biri.! riding Othello must think he s ricling at a 
funeral. Make it snappy Doc'" 

"Look at Oldsmobile! Look at him come' Bring 
home the bacon, honey! " 

They slid under the wire and the first race of the season 
was over. A moment later, at the judges' stand, three 
big white numbers clicked into place, 3-4-1. "Okls- 
mobile." won, "General Pickett " came in tor a place an^l 
"Smiling Maggie" showed 

By the Pari-Mutual betting system, a two dt)llar 
ticket on Oldsmobile paid that day, four dollars and forty 
cents; and Dan Boone and Henry 'I'ork of the Battery 
cashed in. Oscar Hollenbeck was o\'er there that da\' 
and Lieutenant Lunn the battalion \eterinarian was in 
the paddock picking them out. 

Those were the happy days. I^ays when the Battery 
plungers hai.1 \isions of betting on a dark horse that 
would pa\ a couple of thousand dollars for one. 1 he 
only time that happened, by the way, was the morning 
the cigarette salesman from Liggett and Myers went out 
to the Battery canteen and ga\e the boys a tip. 

"If you re going o\er to the races this alternoon. 
fellows, drop a couple of shekels in the box on San Sam to 
win," 

They laughed him down, Lieutenant f^rank Lunn 
laughing the hardest. "San Sam " was a selling-plater, 
he couldn't w in if the rest of the field all broke a leg But 



w hen the El Paso Morning times came out next morning 
there was w.eeping and wailing, for "San Sam " had romped 
home and had paid the biggest returns of the whole 
season, two hundred and twenty dollars for one. and a 
fiu'e dollar ticket brought home ele\en hundred dollars. 
Dan Boone had hysterics that morning and "Doc " Lunn 
closed up the canteen and hung a crepe on the door. 

Pew of those one-hundred days racing passed without 
having one or two of the Battery boys leaning over the 
rail, clutching a little red ticket and pleading with the 
horses. L}an Boone, the noblest "Roman of them all," 
Hollenbeck, "Duke " ^'ork. Lieutenant Lunn and Lieu- 
tenant Johnston, Jensen McEntee, Lyle McCormick, 
"Spick " Woodward, Otis Shryock, Howard Treat and 
r-reddie Clark. Clark — there was the boy that looked 
the part' L^reddie always wore a checkered cap that 
would ha\e done credit to the most persistent race track 
follower in the world. 

Who remembers the day that Duke "^'ork bought a 
two-dollar straight ticket on General Pickett. The same 
flashed under the wire and sent "Duke " back to the 
lobby of the Del Norte hotel with fifty-se\en dollars 
and fifty cents. 

There were some good horses there that season, some 
of the best in the business. Such as "Hocnir," "Utelas," 
"Meal-Ticket," "Borgo," "Smiling Maggie," and "Big- 
todo." Charlie Garner was the best of all the jockeys — 
he rode se\'enty percent of all the winners. 

Talking abotit "Bigtodo," there was the day that 
Dan Boone stood by the cigar stand in the betting ring. 
There was a thin partition that separated the cigar stand 
from the wash-room and on the other side Dan heard a 
negro \'oice raised in an impro\'ised melody ; 

"Oh, 'Bigtodo' am goin' to win today. ' 

^'cs he am, yes he am, and I'se gw ine to cop mahself 
some clough " 

That was enough for "plunger" Boone. He walked 
over to the blackboarLl and looked at it. Sure enough, 
there was "Bigtodo " in the fourth race with Jockey Carroll 
up. He wasn't a f'a\orite. but Dan had a hunch and that 
was enough for him. He shoved five ctollars un^ler the 
wickett at one of the machines 

"Bigtodo" to win," he told the book-maker. 

The bell clanged and the book-maker shoved Dan a 
white ticket; and when the fourth race was o\er, Dan 
handed that ticket back and received seventy dollars. 
He had played a hunch and "Bigtodo" came through and 
paid fourteen to one 

A good bit of the money the Batterymen won at the 
Liurez race-track ne\'er got back to the United States. 
Which brings us to the reason thereof — the wicked, 
wicked, "Eiesta " in Liurez proper. Here the little ball 



The lied (iiiidon 



PiKJC 101 



clicked as it whirled aroLintl the loulette table; cards were 
breathlessly turned o\er in "no limit stud; the dice 
rolled out on the crap table, an^l the l\eno paddles were 
passed around. Tables crow tlei.1 w ith pla\ers, Americans, 
Mexicans, Chinese; an^l two soLliers stumblinp out the 
doorway. 

"I told you we shouki ha\e gone riijjht home, ^ork!' 
"^'ea, I thought it was time for you to come across 



with this l-told-yoLi-so stuff. \\"h\ ^li^ln t \ou stay away' 
from that roulette wheeP ' 

A sheepish grin from Boone, then — "I won thirt>-fnc 
at the races, how much did you win^" 

"Twenty -how much ha\e you got Iclt^ ' 

"H ! I ha\en't c\en got car-lare!" 

"I ha\cn't either -let's walk!" 



Canteens 



THE Battery's first canteen was opened at Camp 
Willis, Ohio, about two weeks after the Battery's 
arri\al there in b'llP by Lieutenant b. R. Lunn, better 
known as "Doc." Thirt\-fi\e dollars sufTieeel to bu\- a 
crate of lemons and a few packages ol L'needa biscuits. 
Sugar was furnished by the kitchen, and in a short time 
the canteen, furnishing the 1x)ns lemonade and cakes, 
was in full swing. Harr\- [Jlackwoo^l was Lieutenant 
Lunn's assistant refreshment dispenser. Lwo weeks 
after the canteen startcel it was nccessar\- to mo\"e into 
larger quarters. Harry [Blackwood left the Battery and 
Bill Martin and Roscoe Mcl^herson became f^oc Lainn's 
assistants. 

One day Joe Schnitzler was called up beloi'c Major 
liush expecting to be coui t-m.irtialed lor some unknown 
olfense (he was onl\ a recruit then). Instead he was 

gi \ en charge of the 

^ _ ^_ book-keeping end of 

the canteen. 

I o the origina 1 
stock ol lemonade antl 
cakes there was added 
cigars, cigarettes, and 
\ arious other supplies 
A piano was placed in 
the canteen and every- 
thmg was soon in 
shape. When the Bat- 
tery left 'for the border 
the canteen carrieei a 
stock \alued at fixe 
thousand dollars. Ld\e 
hours alter the arrival 
on the boreler the can- 
teen was doing busi- 
ness. A canteen builel- 
ing was erected and 
Bill I\elly w.as added 
to Its working lorce 
l~)onNorthrupalso aid- 
ed in dishing out can- 
dy, cigars, cigarettes 
aiul Id Pa^o near beer. 



I 





i^^ 





Mk 


■^nA,. ;'^ 




3v% >' ' 











When the Battery left the border the "Two Bills," 
f-oltz anel Kelly ran a small one at Fort Sheridan, which 
conformeel strictK' to the principles of business and 
efficiency. 

Camp Perry saw L^oc Lunn. the (~anteen Oliicer. 
resume activities I")uiing the Hood at Perr\ the Canteen 
was washci-l awa\. bi.it alterwards came back bigger anel 
better than e\ er. 




?^ 






I'ort [kn Harrison and Camp Sheridan lounLl the 
canteen catering to the wants of the first battalion, an^l 
later to the entire n4th Regiment. Lieutenant Lunn 
and joe .Sehnitzler were its chief operators anel the\- were 
assisted at one time or another by William H. Pearson, 
Farabatigh, .'\lbert R. fialdw in, Eugene [\irkle, Cilbert 
SehwallMch ani.1 Samuel L. Whistler. 

A Dixisional oreler at Sheridan prohibited the sale ol 
ice cream, pie. and soft elrinks. Despite this the canteen 
elid a great business Lintil the departure of the Vth 
Dnision for L ranee. Lieutenant Lunn left the regi- 
ment and Sehnitzler assumed charge of the Battery 
canteen Joe openo^l on a small scale at CA-stas. branee. 
and again while the Battery was in billets near Ram- 
bkcin. after the war The canteen at the last named 
place was one of the best in the [battery's history, and 
one of the most appreciated Hael it not been for the 
canteen the Battery would ha\e been S () L lor 
cigarettes, can^ly anel everything else, for the nearest 
^'. M. C. A, was ("i\c miles awav' 



Page KkS 



The Red Guidon 



The Top Sergeant's Dream 



Tl was SLinda\- morning and 'l"op Sergeant Mike Greene 
^ walked down the Battery street and blew his whistle. 

" Fen men for a detail," he yelled. 

T hen there was a mad scramble. e\erybody was 
trying to see who could get there first II he picked the 
first ten. it was a case of hurry up and get there. "Tub" 
Lamiell was way ciown by the stables, but as soon as 
he heard the sergeant's voice, he started racing madly 
for the Battery street. Men began dropping out of 
upper hunks ; there was such a rtish at the doors of some 
of the tents that several fellows climbed under the can\as 
Art I-aulkncr had been shaving and he came out so fast 
that the lather was still on his face. In one minute and 
a hall the whole Battery was in the street fighting for a 
place at the head of the line, as the "Top" had a habit of 
picking his men from there 

"Don't scramble, men. " Greene said good naturedly 
"If you don't get a chance this time, there will be another 
detail pretty soon." 

I hat s what you saiel last Sunday, complained lay 
Haller. "and I ha\en't been on a detail for three months." 

"Me either," said Harold Moock, "and you promised 
me three weeks ago you'd put me on the \ery next detail." 

Complaints started pouring in from all sides, until 
finally Mike said, "Cut out the argum.'nt I guess I'll 
have to start a regular roster. Now for this detail, I 
want tour men to peel spuds and wash pots and pans in 
the kitchen all day, and the other six to sweep out the 



gun-park. Faulkner, you were getting ready to go to 
town -you don't want to go on detail, do you"" " 

"I should say I do. Sergeant," Art protested, "I'd 
lo\e to. I was only going to town because there was nothing 
else to do' " 

"All right, you can go to the kitchen — now." 

"There's that damn Faulkner." Art Possehl muttered 
to Ralph RecLlington. "he always gets the grapes! " 

1 hen there was a ne\s burst of excitement. Cries of, 

' lake me Sargc. " "Aw. let me go. " and "I wanna sweep 

the gun-park. " filkxl the air, ,\nel there were excuses like: 

"Sergeant, il you don't take me. I'll die I've only 
got one book to read and three letters to write this whole 
day, and here it is only nine o'clock'" 

"I ought to get on that kitchen Llctail. f\irry promised 
me the next time he had to ha\ e any help on pots and 
pans he'd get me in on it " 

"Please Sergeant, can't I sweep the gun-park^ Ser- 
geant Lax'cry got some new brooms and I'm just aching 
to try one' " (This from Bill Brewer.; 

Sergeant Greene smiled as he looked at their happy 
eager faces. Good old B Battery! Always wanting to 
work no matter how hard it was; the tougher the job the 
better. I hen he opened his eyes and looked at his watch. 

"Twelve o'clock — Blame it. " he exclaimed as he 
turned over. "I knjw I shoukln't ha\"e eaten that cheese 
before I went to bed." 



Bill Kelly's Roger 



TJILL Kelly gave the last customer a pack of Camels 
•L-' and a piece of candy and lit a cigarette. The canteen 
in El Paso wasn't \ery busy that morning. The Batter\ 
was drilling in a cloud of dust on the distant drillfield 
A Mexican came around the corner of the canteen building 
and upon seeing Bill standing at the counter said: 

"Buenos dias. Senor. " 

"Hello joe' What can I sell you^" 

Ignoring this display of good business on Bill's part, 
the "Mex" reached under his coat and pulled out a tiny 
shivering dog and laid it on the counter. 

'"^'ou like to buy Mex' hairless dog. perhaps''" 

Bill's eyes glistened. He had been looking for a 
hairless dog for a month. He picked it up — it was hairless 
alright. The poor little thing was so naked that it was 
positively^indelicate. 



"How much do you want Joe'' " 

"I'our pesos. Senor. He is fine Mex' hairless, mucha 
Bueno. what \ou call, the \ery best " 

Alter a little argument (more business on Bill's part) 
Bill parted with leiur of his hard earned dollars and the 
dog was his Ihis shotild be the end of the story. Ks 
it happened, the end came some ten days later when 
Russ Baer picked up the pup an^l remarked: 

"Hey Bill. Roger's starting to grow whiskers." 

.An examination proved that Russ was right. Inside 
a month Roger had a fine growth of black hair — the 
.Mexican hairless hael only been shaved. 



Fish Eddie ^ ounis when he went snipe hunting at Camp 
Sheridan. 



GOLDBRICK: noun — one who goldbricks. 
Goldbrick: \erh — to escape work; practice of an 
army science. 

As Noah Webster might ha\'e put it in his dictionary. 

If Webster had said this he would ha\e been right. 
It was a science in B Battery. And there were men in 
Battery B who could ha\'e perfected the science: men who 
studied the proposition as a science. Boys like Eddie 
Sauter, Bill Martin. Lloyd f-'etch. Bill Leahy, Bill Foltz, 
Joe Kelly, Art Faulkner, Russell Lothamer. Taylor 
Haller. Jimmy Bennett, Al\ in Borden, George "Speed" 
Cunningham, Donald Miller, Bill Schmok, Atlee Wise, 
Jimmie Jameson and Harold Moock. Their names are 
legion. 

It had better be said here that this story does not 
apply to the army careers of these boys. No! No! 
Did anybody e\-er work harder for instance than How^arcl 
Miller at F'ort Ben Harrison, or Joe Kelly, on camouflage 
on the western front, or Russ Lothamer when he was 
ammunition corporal at the front' 

No' E\erybody worked when there was big work on. 

But at times in their army li\es, all ot the batterymen 
with few exceptions suftercd from that strange malady, 
"goldbrickitis." Tay Haller at Camp Sheridan was 
king premier. He was the complete master of the science. 
Tay studie^l the subject. He studied it in his bunk at 

night w hile the rest of 

'F , ". ' . -.^^^ ^^W P ■'^>.- • t snored. Result, he for- 
got more than most of 
the Batterymen e\er 
knew about goldbrick- 
ing and he could ha\ e 
w rit ten a book on 
"How do A\oid 
Work," 

Tay Haller and 
Howard Miller teamed 
at Camp Sheridan. 
1 hey worked antl fig- 
ured together. Those 
boys had threc-hun- 
dred-ten good and separate reasons why they should not 
be put on this or that detail. They always met the first 
sergeant half-way and usually stopped him. They had 
ninet\'-se\'en catalogued alibis why they should not be 
put on kitchen police. 




Tomm\ Thompson, Lee Breese, Al Borden, Stanley 
Bullard, Hal Ja>-, Howard Bowman. Dan Boone, and 
Clarence Foust were among the pioneer goldbricks on the 
border. 1 he\- were finished craftsmen long before the 
rest of the men of the old battery c\er knew there were 
ways of getting out of work. 

Harold Moock and Bill Leniham, Bill Murphy and 
Hal Crossman coukl be named lor blue ribbons if there 
were to be any prizes hung up 
for good work — dodging tactics. 
Larr\- F-etch and Harold 
Moock used a system in avoid- 
ing details that was all their 
own. Their method differed from 
Miller's and Haller's in that it 
was more subtle and there was 
more "finesse" attached. Talk 
about smooth workers — that 
duet couLl be away from the 
Battery for three days and when 
they'd get back you'd look at 
them and wish that it was in 
\ou to work as hari.1 as the\' did 




^^^ 



'.!.. 



I. C. and C. A. 



Two of the old timers of B Battery who used to pro\ide 
a lot of good laughs for the boys were the Jump 
brothers, Ira C. and Clatide A. Neither Clau^le nor lrae\er 
took the army seriously enough to properly prepare for in- 
spections or other battery ceremonials. Cdaude and Ira 
were in Homer Da\ is' squad on the border ;ind Homer had 
to check up on the boys like a father. Claude ne\er 
stood an inspection without recei\ing a bawling out for 
a lost button or a soiled pair of puttees. And Da\ie 
would always alibi for him. Corporal Da\is and the 
Jump hoys were good friends and whene\er there was 
a disagreeable job the other men in the tent would crab 
about, Davie could feel safe in asking C'laude or Ira to 
perform the eiuty. 

The lump brothers were mustered out of the Battery 
under depentlenc\' at Fort Sherii.lan. 111. 



Fish The German People — No reason needed. 




AtiH Nr^mo 1 



T I hiin 

JU JL 







J 



rviofi 



S 



S' 



u 

Morgan Bright, otherwise known as "Senorita. 
Since coming into the [iatter\' at Camp Periy. \ lorgan had 
taken on just about thirty more potinds oi" weight than he 
ever dreamed of getting in civilian life. This was true 
of just about eighty per cent of the B Battery fellows. 
1 here was Tom Micheals for instance. When Tom first 
hit the shores of Lake Erie on that memorable May day, 
in \'^\7. his \est hung loose and his coat Happed in the 
breeze like a sail. After coming to "mess-kit alert" for 
months that old suit of Tom's would fit today like a pair 
of tights. 

John Downey or "Coffee John" used to say the reason 
he transferred from the 13Cith I'deld .Artillery was because 
he was gradually getting tiiinner and foi' fear his mother 
wouldn't recognize him when he returned. He came to 
B Battery to retain his normal proportions (which were 
an\thing but small) and anyone who remembers "Colfee 
John " in action at the "Battle of the Mess" will feel 
assured that John's mother had no trouble in recognizing 
him. 

.'\nd then there was "Ike" Spicer, Oda Reynolds, 
Joe Schnitzler, "Casey" Guy Price, 'Verne Ritter, George 

White, Bob Wiener, Carl 
Truby and others without 
number w ho took on from ten 
to l'ort\ pounds in the army. 
L^iving out-of-doors, eating 
regularly, plenty of exercise, 
called "work " put many a 
man in B Battery on his feet. 
Again, there were men who. 
in spite ol the mess sergeant 
and the de\il refused to take 
on axoirdtipois. I here was 
Ross Kalaher. president of 
the Jungle Buzzards' Union, 
familiarly known as "Shanty" 
who remained as thin as the 
pro\crbial fence rail. "Husky 
ani.1 Hungry" was Ross' 
motto. 




" 1 ub " Lamiell. when he first stepped up to Supply 
Sergeant Poling to draw his outfit, unblushingly called 
out "Pants — 38." But when " Tub " answered "here" 
to the last Battery formation, his belt 
encircled a pair of "34" breeches. 
" I ub" was ne\er known to miss a 
meal but instead of gaining more 
a\oirdupois. he got leaner and more 
hardened. 

And Archie Murphy was ne\'er 
a follower of the fatted cahcs. Mess 
Sergeant Curry gave Archie more eat- 
ing privileges than most (.)( the fel- 
lows enjoyed, and although in\ ariably 
heading the "second's" line, Archie 
ne\er seemed to gain a pound 

Btit king of them all was W illiam 
Cjulick alias "Galloping Gulick" lirst 
man in the mess-line, first man through 
eating and, first in the "second's" line. 
His middle name was "eat " anel cat he 
sureh did (">\er m France, William 
proudly sported a medal, presented 
him b> the boys, on which was 
stamped, " 1 he J tingle-Buzzard 
King." l"^ut he ne\er, at any 
time, loosened his belt. Liating 
was his specialty, but he ne\er gained an ounce. 
William was won't to remark, "The more I eat. the more 
I want and the more 1 want the thinner I get." 

However it was just the dilfcrenee in their makeup. 
Some of the boys got heavier, some of them got thinner, 
but the physical stamina in B Battery was equal to that 
in any other outfit m the A. E. b. 



Fish Bill Murphy when he used asbestos paper at 
Rambluzin to try to start a fire with. 



Fish limmic Bennett, the recrLUt, when he stood baulk- 
ner s tiuard. 





""HE most cLissed and 

liscLissed man in the 

Army, Personally, he was a 

regular fellow, but to the 

buck j-iri\ate in the rear 

rank he was a combination 

of the Kaiser, the Czar. Nero and the De\il. He was 

Pirst Sergeant Frederick H. Greene, of Battery B, 

In the ways of war he was a wizard, hi all things 
military he ranked with the captain. He was a sticker 
for discipline and as hard to con\ ince as the "Carnbou," 
He was a past master at "passing the buck" and did it 
in such a manner that e\en the most cocky sergeant 
listened. 

His word was as absolute as his frown w^as suggesti\'e. 
Those who had experience say one frown meant ten days — 
a second look at least fifteen — and to be called to the 
office — Oh Lord! 

He'd been known to \ isit Bordcau.x on \arious occa- 
sions and could talk intelligently on the \ ititage of France. 
He was a woman hater and disclaimed all knowledge 
of them. Howexer. he had been known to recei\e mail 
addressed in a leniininc han!.! that was not his mothers. 



He prizcel highly his "Owen r,oLint\ .Mullen Leaf" 
and many a grouch and "Fi\e Llays extra duty for you" 
can be traced to its scarcity in the old hip pocket. 

But after all, he was an all-round chap, and he was 
a soldier, e\er\- inch of him; — soldiering not foi' the 
hope of advancement or personal betterment, but for the 
mere joy of being with the boys — of sticking: which onl\ 
adds emphasis to the conclusion that he was the best 
top sergeant, in the best battery. 

First Sergeant Greene joincel Batter\- B in .Akron while 
the battery under Captain Hurl .Albreeht was preparing 
to lea\e for the Mexican boixler m June, 191 b. He 
soldiered as a pri\ ate in Texas, play mg \o. 1 on the (frst 
section piece with Ciunner Ciilbert Lane opposite him 
Mike Greene was the bo\- who used to lire the piece at 
target practice, and then reach back antl catch the 
empty shell case as it left the breech of the gun. 

Mike was made a corporal at Camp Perry, C.V. but 
lasted only a few da\s as a corporal He was made ser- 
geant soon after, an^l later at fT. Benjamin Harrison, 
Ind . he moxe^l into the first sergeant's office, suc- 
ceeding ( "harle\ Lange. as top. 



McKeever 



IX ci\il life and from time immemorial, mother's cook- 
ing has always set the standard — likewise a doughnut 
always recei\ed its rating in the culinary world by the 
nearness of its approach to "the kinel that mother used to 
make. " But the old-timers of B flattery, those who 
were in the outfit before the days of Camp i\i r\ . would 
offer a slight modification of this phrase, and as appliei,! 
to the army it became, "Oh, for one of the pies that Mc- 
Kee\er used to make'" 

Where is he now. and who is he cooking for"" For he 
is cooking and we will gamble on that — he knew one 
trade, and one trade only, but at that traele it wouLIn t 
be far amiss to sa\- that he was one of the best in the 
business. William R Mcl\ee\er. eccentric chaiacter and 
cook extraordinary of Battery B. cotikl make up a pot 
of army slum and a "cafe parfait " w ith equal adaptability 
and make both of them the best you e\er tasted. His 
biscuits were a blessing — and one of his chocolate cakes 
a thing of beaut\' and joy fore\er. 

1 he stor\ of his life sounds like Fiction— romance — 



anything you choose to call it Wanderer an^l nomati he 
cooked his way across the world 1 lis recoiLl inclueles 
three or lour hitches in the arm\ . he blesse^l the f^lth 
Ca\alr\ with peach pie at 1 he Presidio. California, and 
while the Filth was acting as 
range guare! in Yellowstone 
National Park: with the 22nJ 
Infantry, he made prune-whip 
in Canton. C'hina. and dotigh- 
nuts in Eagle City, .Alaska: the 
t"ith Ca\alry called him blesseel 
at Ft n .A Russell 111 W \oming: 
and he kept the .Stil (.!a\aliy in 
fighting trim m Fort RinggoLI, 
Fort .Apache an^l Fort Burr. New 
Mexico, and at Fort Mcl\inle\' 
in the Philippine Islanels. 

His career was not confined to 
the army: on the contiary. his 
\ersatilit\' knew no bounds and 




Page 112 



The lied Guidon 



his knowledge of cookery had no limitations. Contrariwise, 
he cooked Hapjacks for the crew of a dredge on the Colum- 
bia River, Washingon. and roasted Philadelphia capon for 
fastidious diners at the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel in At- 
lantic City. From the snow sheds and lumber camps of Cali- 
fornia he went to those wonderful restaurants, the Harvey 
houses on the Sant i Fe railroad; the Cleveland Athletic 
Club knew him for one short week, and many a Pullman 
diner, clicking o\er the rails between Chicago and New 
^'ork, bore a prosperous business, man who praised the 
salad, and if he could have gone into the kitchen end, he 
would have found Old Man McKee\er busily engaged in 
mixing the mayonnaise! 

Then came the day at Camp Willis when B Battery 
saw a strange face underneath the white cap that showed 
in the kitchen. But, as their prior experience had been 
"cooks may come and cooks may go, but slum goes on 
forever," they didn't pay much attention to him until 
that night at mess and then — they tasted the biscuits; 
they tried the french-fried potatoes; they sampled the 
gravy; and they ate the chocolate pudding; and one hun- 
dred and fifty \oices were raised in an awe-striken 
whisper — 

"Good Lord' Who's the cook ^" 

And McKeever had arrived' 

Like all other great "artists " he was temperamental, 
and Caruso's wildest storms were zephyrs beside the 



ha\oc created when the "Major" got peeved. Those 
were the times when kitchen police peeled spuds in fear 
and trembling, and the Mess Sergeant stayed far, far 
away from the mess hall. McKeever got into scrapes 
innumerable — and got out of them because the captain 
wanted pie. At Christmas time he lucklessly fell into the 
hands of the law and was in the guard-house when Christ- 
mas came, but they let him out- partly because they 
didn't want anybody there on Christmas — mostly be- 
cause the battery had to ha\e Christmas dinner! And 
Colonel Bush was right when he told him. after one of 
his numerous escapades — 

"McKeever, about the only thing I can say to fit the 
case is that you are a most necessary e\il' " 

He left the outfit when he got his discharge, on account 
of dependency, at Fort Sheridan, 111. The battery saw 
him just once after that; thc\- had been at Ft. Benjamin 
Harrison about a month when he walked into the kitchen 
with enough stripes on his arm to outfit twenty cor- 
porals. He was Sergeant McKeever, cook instructor in 
the U. S. Army. He stayed just long enough to bake 
the boys a batch of biscuits to show that he still had his 
old-time form, go over a few border experiences, and then 
he was gone again. 

Here's to you, Major. where\er you may be! ^'ou may 
ha\e cussed us at times — but Good Lord, how you could 
cook ! 



Mess Halls 



UNDOUBTEl^L^' the most luxurious mess hall that 
ever harbored B Battery during the meal hour was 
the one at Camp Sheridan. Ala it was more like home 
than any other "dining room " that the Battery e\er 
used. Spacious, well ventilated an^i always clean, it 
was the pride of the Battery cooks. 

Of course the two first named qualities could be found 
in another hardly so popular Battery dining room, 
namely, "the great out-doors " wherein E^ Battery ate 
many meals both here and "o\er there " 

At Fort Ben Harrison, as at Camp Willis the well 
\-entilated and spacious out-doors was the mess hall 

Fort Sheridan, 111., offered a fair mess hall but it 
lacked one quality — space. It was impossible for the 
entire Battery to eat there at one time 

Then in France, At Camp de Souge the mess hall 
was a weird affair inasmuch as it was kept in total darkness 



at all times to a\oid ha\ ing the llies purloin the meals 
before the Battery arrived. After leaving Camp de 
Souge. the mess was served from the rolling kitchens to 
be eaten in nature's mess hall. 

The Battery didn't enjoy the luxury of a mess hall 
again until they reached the Pontenazen barracks at 
Brest. Here they saw the busiest mess hall in the world. 
This kitchen fed ten thousand men every hour, everything 
moving like clock-work. 

Back again in the U. S. A., the Battery returned to 
mess halls much the same as the old one at Camp Sheridan, 
tables, benches n'everything. 

With all the luxury of stoves, tables and chairs, 
n(;)twithstanLling. nature's mess hall was, without doubt, 
the one that will be the fondest memory as the most 
appreciated dining room B Battery ever emptied mess 
kits in. 



Fish Tay Haller and joe Kelly when they paid fifty 
cents to see New ^'ork from the top of the Wool- 
worth Building. 



Fish Mutt Bausman when he threw nine one dollar billt 
in the fire and put candy wrapper in his pocket as 
Sheridan. 



PEMd 




Editor's Note. Historians tell lis that when Roscoe 
Poling was a mere babe and hael Jtist reached the crawling 
age, his mother misseel things around the house. Odd 
mittens, rubber boots, bottles ol ink, candles, cups, frying 
pans, and se\eral articles of china-ware, disappeared 
miraculously. After two weeks of this, just when she 
was beginning to believe in spiritualism, she started 
house-cleaning, and in the nursery, behind little Roscoe's 
bed, she found all the missing articles stacked up accord- 
ing to size. At such an early age then, Roseoe showed 
his adaptability to the job of Quartermaster 

Down on the Mexican border, where the 
sand-storms shrieked down the batter\ 
street, Roseoe A. Poling was a goo^l wheel- 
driver and he admittei.1 it himsell;when he 
got his corporals stripes he was lourth sec- 
tion gunner for a while and he was nearly 
always on the aiming-point ; as a caisson-cor- 
poral, his "Double section, left oblique!" and 
other commands rang out so firmly that 
there was no mistaking them. But his real 
rise to the heights of fame elid not come un- 
til he started holding down the job ol B 
Battery SuppK' Sergeant; ani.1 two days 
after he mo\ed into the Liuartermastcr's 
tent at Camp Sheridan an^l staitcl 
dealing out the castile-soap. the>' startcLl to Hock into the 
battery street from all o\ercamp to see the pcrteet quar- 
termaster. 

If any man was e\er fitted for a job. Roseoe certainly 
found his proper niche when he sat down among the 
piles of "blouses, woolen, O. D" and "Pistol belts — web 
There was a quartermaster on your life' C. T Sharpe 
used to say that if B Batter\' e\er landed near the tront 
in France, anci lost e\er\ thing it ha^l. it was no cause 
for worry: Poling could start out in the morning with a 
"fourgon" wagon or a two-wheekxl cart, and get back at 
night with "equipment C lor c\ery man, and a tra\eling 
kitchen thrown in for good measure. Rough, gruft regi- 
mental supply sergeants with hearts of stone, and world- 
w ide reputations for stinginess. ha\e been known to 
listen to Poling for a half-hour, then throw their arms 
around his neck, weep real tears, and pile his cart high 
with Lncle Sams best with the promise of two more 
loads as soon as the stuff came in At times v. hen there 
apparently had been no candles throughotit the length 
and breadth of [ranee, the sergeant has started out on 
a sleuthing expedition, and returned with two dozen 
candles — and a carbide lighting system' What it took to 




collect junk he was full of : he could start out w ith nothing 
and ha\'e the battery full\- equipped in ten days with 
enotigh left o\er to make three trips to the sahage dump. 
In LJealmg with the men he was "tres bien." His 
micLlle name was "diplomacy, and "We treat you right" 
his watchwor^l. He could argue you into belie\ ing that 
\()U were fat. thin. tall, short, knock-kneed or bow- 
legge^l; that \ou needled a pair of shoes or that \ou 
Llitln't Hr that a new o\erseas cap was just the thing 
for \ou, or that it was much better for the hair to go 
bare-hcai.kxl. 

It is well worth the price of admission 
to sec him in action — a long line of wait- 
ing men, those who neei^kvl clothes and 
those who thought the\' did — a window 
opens with a bang, the line straightens up 
aiul mo\ es forward an^l Supply Sergeant 
Roseoe A. Poling is reach' for business. — 
"PerioLl. check, next man'" 

I he first batter-up is "Nick" ("arson; he 

needs a pair of pants badly- -in fact his are 

starting to wear through in se\eral places. 

".\ pail" ol pants. Sarge. size ^2 around 

the waist." 

" I hirt\'-six is all Ivegot, Try em on, 

the\ II lit you 
"Closh' lO wduki swamp me. woukln't it'" 
"No. I shouki s;i\ not. This is a small ^o besides 
the\ 11 shrink, Clo ahcaLl, take em. \Ia\- not ha\e any 
more in lor a couple of months. W hat's Nour ntimber? 
Number 12"). PerioLl. check, next man'" 

The next bitLl is (".lyde Lamiell He's here lor pants 
too, onK his waist Llimensions Llilfer largely from Nick 
Carsons. 

"Sergeant, 1'lI like to get a pair of pants abotit the 
size of 40, if \()u'\c got them. I ha\'e — " 

"Thirl\-six IS all I'xe got. Try em on, the\'ll fit 
\ou " 

"G'wan. where Jo you get that sttifT" iCictting har^l- 
boiled). "It sail I can do to squeeze into a 40 an^l that s 
the trtith. too'" 

"Fhat's all right, this is a large 3o. besii^les it will 
stretch. Ck) ahead, take em. May not ha\e any more 
for a couple of months. What's \our number' Number 
7S. Period, check, next man! " 
Oh. he's a smooth little worker! 

Bob Wiener is the next prospective customer. He is 
one of the greatest little clothes collectors in the army. 



Page ll'i 



The Ixi'd (iiiidon 



If he has only se\cn shirts, and three pairs of sox, he 
thinks he w ill ha\e to go in rags. 

"Well, well' How's the old Quartermaster Sergeant''" 
(The old army game calculated to put Roscoe in a good 
humor. Swell chance') "Sarge, I want a blouse, and a 
pair of shoes, and a belt, and if 1 c4on't get a new pair of 
puttees, I'll ha\-e to start wrapping surcingles around my 
legs — and I want a suit ol underwear, and a pair of shoe 
laces. That's about all, 1 guess 

"Ha\en t got any ol that stufl Cja\c out the last 
blouse ten minutes ago. No hobs, no unLlcrwcar " 

"Oh. fcir Hea\ens sake'" (A plainti\'e wail.) "This 
makes the (ouith time We stood in line and haxen't got- 
ten a darn thing Im getting tired — " 



"Wait a minute' I've got something else you can 
have. Something pretty nice. too. 1 ry that oxerseas 
cap, it's a new style." 

The cap goes on the old bean 1 hen — 

"How does it look''" 

"Swell' Go ahead, take it' If you e\cr get back to 
.Akron with that on, you'll be the hit of the battery!" 
says Roscoe. 

Poor Bob' lietter men than he ha\c fallen before 
Roscoe's subtle flattery. Bob takes the hat, forgetting 
all about the blouse, hobs, etc., that he didn't get, and 
goes awa\' thinking Poling is a prett>' good fellow. And 
Poling' He grins, leans over the book and w rites down — 
"One overseas cap. Number I'-^S " 

"Period, check, next man'" 



The Small Boys 



IN 1Q81 A. D. or thereabouts, alter all the okl nicmlx'rs of 
Battery B of ,'\kron are either lost or lorgotlen, or too 
old to hobble around to tell the school children war 
stories on Decoration Da>', Robert Wiener and Winlield 
McCracken should still be able to get around on their 
canes and preach the gospel of old Batter\' B 

Bob Wiener and "Red MeO.racken were the champion 
iu\eniles of the Battery ^.lown m .Mabama and in I- ranee 
As the Battery was preparing to lea\e hrance the two 
boys celebrated their seventeenth l^iith^laxs \\ lener 



was a trifle over fifteen \ears old when he enlisted in B 
Batters m .Alaon McCracken was two months or so 
younger 

i^ob hai-l hai\ll\ discari_led his high school knee pants 
when he i^iit on his first O. D, knickerbockers, same with 
"l^ed ' 

1 lieir ages however never was a serious handicap in 
their determination to soldier and both boys went through 
the training pcrio^ls in the .States and "over there " with- 
out a hitch. 



Fish Ritter, ketch and Schnake when thc\- took a taxi 
at Montgomery to get away from the M,P. 



Do you remember the automatic piano at the Hotel de 
1 Gare^ 



Fish J. B. .Michaels when he paid an English barber 
fifty cents for a haircut on the good ship "Nestor," 



Do you remember Sotipy Sam and jim on the U. S. S. 
New Hampshire^ 




The tout 5ei-^ednts 

Cdpt tedHj ^tvefif the credit to ht;? ^tdff 



DL'RING a conversation in I'rancc one day Captain 
Leah\' remarked that "the Battery commander of^ 
B Batter\- had things prctt\- soft " 

When asked why. he mentioned lour men, and said 
that with these fbtir men on the job, the hatter>' com- 
mander coLild take life pretty easy. 'Hie four mentioned 
were. First Sergeant F-'rederick H. Greene. Supply Ser- 
geant Roscoe A. Poling, Mess Sergeant George C, Curr\', 
and Stable Sergeant Riehaivl L^a\er\' 

It was a quartette that coukln't he beat and in their 
respecti\'e departments the> were wonders. 

Frederick H (.Mike) Greene, as first sergeant of B 
Battery was without doubt the best "top kick" with 
the U. S. Arm\-, an^l the fellows all admitted it Mike 
was at one and the same time a .soklier and a man 
being. A combination that is seldom fotind. Mike joined 
the Battery as a private at Akron, Ohio, and through 
those eventful border days he cIkI his ^lutv as a private. 
Perhaps Mike did his share of gokl-biieking and extra 
duty, but show us a good private who hasn't. Cor- 
poral's stripes came to him at Camp f^errv'. Sergeant 
stripes followed quickly and at f^t. Benjamin Harrison he 
became the battery's First Sergeant. From then until the 
word "dismissed" soun^led for the last time, Mike was the 
battery's "top soak." .As a soklier he toed the mark 
and e.xpectecl every other man in the battery to do 
the same. He had been a private long enough to know 
the ways and wiles of a private ,\ mans loot might 
slip once or twice in the line ol cluty and the "top 
would overlook it, but woe tn the man whose loot kept 
continually slipping. ,Mikc would quietlv' sand his path 
with some extra duty an^l the slipping would come to 
a sudden stop, F'irst Sergeant Greene was the cap- 
tain's right hand man. He knew what was to be done 
and he did it 

The battery was always out on time lor formations, 
Lletails were picked and sent their ways and Mike kept 
the battery running smoothly an^l ciuietlv like a well 
oiled machine, ,An order given to him was an order 
obeyed and carried out. No wonder Sergeant Frederick 
H. Greene was one of Captain Leahy's main stays. 

Supplv' Sergeant Roscoe A- Poling was the second ol 
the batterv' s famous quartette, as "Fooling, R, A.. Sergeant 
Supply" he was there, ^'cp' he sure was. No chance of 
the men freezing for lack of clothes as long as Roscoe pre- 
sided over the Q. M. Dept. He knew to a shoe-string 
or a pair of socks just how much clothes every man in 
the battery had, and just when the above mentioned 
shoe string or pair of socks should wear out. He didn't 
wait until the men were thread-bare, or for ori-lers to get 
the supplies. Not Roscoe; he went out and got tlie stuff 



and saw that it was properly issued. In training camps 
in the States and in training camps "over there" the 
"Sergeant Supply" was on the job and when the battery 
struck the front Roscoe was on the job w ith a vengeance. 
"Beau-coup" pairs of socks and gloves were sent to the 
men in the firing batterv' with occasional supplies of 
breeches and shirts. "Believe you me'' 1 hose socks 
did come in handy' A pair of socks was soaking wet 
after a mornings work in the gun-pit. Thanks to Poling 
there was alwav^ a pair of dry ones handy .After the 
armistice, while in muLkly billets above Rambluzin, Ros- 
coe showcLl his true worth, F4ere, there an^l evervvvhere, 
over the length an^l breadth of France he went po- 
licing ani.1 salvaging with his "Libertv wagon " and 
when at inspection on Saturday morning the men's cloth- 
ing shovvcLl clean an^l neat, it is no wonkier that a cer- 
tain captain grinnixl an^l remarke^l- -"f jcc' km a luckv' 
guv to have sLich a Supply Sergeant " 

Number three m the tamous list stan^K Ralph C 
Currv', .Mess Sergeant .\s dietitian of the batterv' he 
delivercLl the goods. If any of Americas lamous res- 
taurants or hotels are looking tor a managei', here s a 
recommendation for Ralph C. "George" assumed the 
job of feeding the two hunLlre^l ""buzzards"" in the battery 
at Camp Perrv , an^l boy, hovvdv, btit he did succeed 
He eertainlv scrve^l some sumptuous repasts at lort 
Fien an^l Sheridan F^illicult though his job was, he 
usually managei.1 to appease the appetites of the boys. 
Shortly before the battery lett for F-ranee, ""(jcorge " left 
his duties m the kitchen ( ') and it was with great re- 
joicing that the gang saw him rettirn to them ab;)Ut two 
months after the battery arrived in F-ranee. Everyone 
had a gooel vvor^l lor Currv. and Ciirry had a go;Kl wori.1 
for everybodv. He was all broken out with pep and 
applied most of it to his job. After a long tiresome hike, 
when everyone was tired and hungrv , "C^eorge ' would 
start the kitchen going ani.1 in a short time there woukl 
be plenty ol "chow" with which to line ones ribs. It 
took lots of pep and ambition to get hold of food in 
France, that is, something besides corned beef, and what 
It took. C'urry had He was all over I- ranee, "parlez- 
vousing" with the natives, and trvmg to get hokl of 
something out of the ordinarv' rtin of armv' chnw. I he 
Christmas dinner, he handled out in F^rance, was a climax 
to his career as Mess Sergeant, Under the existing con- 
dition It was a master-piece and that the boys all en- 
joyed It and appreciated their Mess Sergeant was at- 
tested that night by the rousing cheers they bestowed 
on Sergeant Ralph C. Ctirry. 

Last, but not least, of the famous lour was Richarcl 
"Dick" Lavery. the battery Stable Sergeant. F.avery, in 



Pdijr J Hi 



Tilt' lied (iiiichm 



point of army service, was the youngest sergeant in the 
battery, being in the army bi.it six months when he as- 
sumed his duties anel three stripes. What he dieln't 
knew about horses, wasn't worth knowing. No man in 
the battery took a keener or more intelligent interest in 
his work than Dick did in his work aroLin^l the stables. 
He could take a horse worth thirt\- cents ani-l in a month 
have him looking like a million dollars. It was not 
necessary for the inspecting officer to look the horses 
over as long as La\ery was in charge of them, and the 
battery commander placed perfect confidence in his 
judgment, I Ic knew what was best for the horses both 



in health and sickness, and he took pains to see that 
each horse got just what was coming to him. 

In F-rance horses were rather a scarce article, yet the 
ones the battery had were always in good condition and 
at all times fit for service. In rain and mud and cold, 
they were properly cared for and sheltered, and there 
were many times when to do this meant a difficult job 
for the Stable Sergeant, Lkit, nevertheless, the job was 
always done and done well, Dick ran the stables in 
great shape and with the least friction possible. No 
wonder the battery commander silently congratulated 
himself and remarked how soft his job was with the 
four efficient aides he had at his command. 



Schmok and Williams 



B 



ILL Schmok was the tallest man that c\er soklicie^l 



Neither of these bovs were with the battcrv wlien it 



in Battery B, according to all observers L^ill 
be able to see the first sergeant coming alter a 
detail long before the rest of the soldiers in his 
tent. He was si.\ teet lour inches tall. 

In one of those old campaign hats he used 
to look like a big Texas ranger. He walked 
with a slight slouch, his toes pointe^l in an^l his 
spurs out. 

Bill anLl Harry "Happv " W'llluiins used to 
look funny going together down the batteiv 
street. In tl-.e battery front it was Bill aiiLl 
Harry and a lew more like them that use^l ti> 
give the battery such an irregular skvime 

"Happy " was just short enough, he use^l 
to say, to be able to get down on a checker 
board and beat Al Borden two out ol three 
games, Williams it will be recalLxl, won the 
battery checker title from Al Borden at T.amp 
Sheridan. 



Jtl to 



■achei.1 




b ranee, Happv' went over ahead of the outfit 
as a special mechanic anei Bill, just fiefore the 
battery pliIIclI away from Sheridan, was called 
to I i4th regimental headquarters. 



Fish I red (.lark w hen he gave Shaw ten dol- 
lars to traele horses at Sheridan, 



Do you remember 'the zero hour'" 



Do you remember General Grel^le on 
"Buck" Weaver's lead horse? 



Fish Buck I loljman w hen he w ent for the 
out-post. 



Dave Takes 12 



THL most important ^lav- in Dave Berson's Batterv' 
career was the day he took twelv e prisoners while the 
Battery was on the front, The capture woukl have 
been an important one had the war not been over when 
Dave caught them, 

Ihe prisoners L3avc brought in were Russians and 
had been German prisoners before Dave got them, 1 hey 
had been left behind by the retreating German army a 
few davs after the armistice. 



.And L)ave on a scotit around the Lleserted front lines 
(ound the prisoners und took them into camp and every- 
place from the kitchen to the "Carilx)ii" Dave spoke 
their language an^l I'ounLl that they were htingry. He 
fed them ancl offereLJ them wiir^ls of cheer. Before he 
released them he tokl them anLl the rest of the Battervmen 
helped him to tell them that the war was over and that 
thev could go back to Russia. 



The Red (iiiidon 



l\ujc 11] 



The General 



WHO was the fj;reatest militar\- leader of all times — 
Alexander, Marshal Foch, General Pershing, or 
General Dunn^ Mutt Bausman, Earnest l-ulmer. Clyde 
Lamiell, Dick La\ery. Bob Ryden. Maik Dresse. ani.1 
others who ser\ei.l in the aimies of Ck-neral Wilbur \'. 
Dunn will tell noli that Wilbur was the greatest of them 
all, 

Dunn had three armies in the iiekl at one time or 
another at Ft, Benjamin Harrison, Ind, In his first army 
were Jimmy Bennett, Mark Dreese, St raud Jackson and 
Louis Youngs, Wilbur's second arm\ was composed of 
Tom Kelly. His third and greatest army was made up 
of fellows like Tub Lamiell, Dick Thomas. "Skeets" 
Werner, Dick Lavery and others, about thiit\ or more, 
Dunn's armies will be remembered by B flattery as long 
as the great war itself, 

Down on the border Wilbur was a pole prop manipu- 
lator in the F'ifth Section, He was m Gorporal Ho- 
mer Da\-is" squad of caisson mounters, W hen the old men 
of the battery began at Camp [-"errx to step out of the 
ranks and into non-com and commissioned jol^s, Wilbur 
didn't make much effort to get o\er the hump. He 
remained a pri\ate until there was no more a\ailable 
old men tor the work of drilling recruits. 

Then one day at Ft, Benjamin Harrison C^aptain joe 
Johnston grabbed Wilbur and tokl him to teach the 
rudiments of the army game to Jimmy Bennett, LOreese, 
Jackson, and Youngs. 

From the day Wilbur took charge of this little first 
army he was a different boy. From a slow moving, 
tired, indifferent soldier, the old general changed over 
night into one of the strictest disciplinarians ever un- 
covered in L'ncle Sam's army. 

Wilbur established himself in an officer's tent at the 
left of the battery camp and the military formalities he 
inaugurated o\er there in his section of the camp would 
have shamed General Pershing himself. The boys had 
to get permission to see the general, stand bareheaded at 
attention while they talked to him and lIo an about face 
when the general i.lismissed them from his presence- 
Wilbur used to haul out his first army. Bennett. Dreese. 
Jackson and Youngs, and march them around the countrv 
in close order tormation. The boys marchei.1 so close 
that Jackson, marching behind Dreese. could not axoid 
butting Dreese in the back with his knees, fk-nnett be- 
hind Jackson would butt Jackson's back and tickle 
him The first two ^lays of this were too much for 
Recruit Youngs of the first army an^l he went .•\,W,0,L, 
back home to .Akron dnd sta\ei-l there. The old boys 
chided Wilbur about this, reminding him that one-fourth 
of his entire armv hatl gone .\ \\ 0,L. 




Then for a while Wilbur had only one man in his 
army. He was recruit Fom Kelly, W'ilbur used to yell 
for Tom, "[Retail fall in, " he'd say. Then he'd march 
Kelly all o\er the lot giving him "sciuads right," "right 
front into line," and other battery mo\-ements, Tom 

Kell\' was taught 
moves and turns 
that no other sol- 
dier ever heard 
abc)ut, Dunn ga\'e 
Tom "Squads right 
about! Column left'" 
one afternoon and 
fvelly turned around 
three times, became 
di:zy, and stepped 
on the general's foot, 
W ilbiir gave him 
three days' extra 
tluty sweeping out 
the first sergeant's 
tent alter drill hours, 
I he okl t imers 
who had soldiered 
with Wilbur on the 
bon.ler wouki gather skilly in the gun park to watch the 
general march 1 om Kelly up from the field of maneuver 
and begin giving orders, "Detail halt I Right face' Fall 
out' ball in again at one o'clock," W''ilbur would shout. 
Bv' the time Dunn took charge of his third army the 
general was riding them high and handsome. He seemed 
to h.ive the wori.1 Irom the war department to go the 
limit — to whip his armv into shape in the least possible 
time at all costs. So when kester Deselms, Bob Miller, 
"Happy" Williams, .\1 Mueller, Bill Lenihan, Erritt 
Sanders, bred Cunningham, Percv" Harris, Holton b'ord, 
George Capron, an^l the rest of the recruits went out for 
drill under Dunn there was much crabbing anel many 
threats, /Knd everv' time the boys showe^l signs of dis- 
satisfaction or hmte^l at mutinv, the general pinned on 
some more Llisciplme an^l smilcLl out of the side of his 
mouth. 

lo the recruits the situation was serious, I'o the 
rest of the battery LT)unn's army troubles were both 
interesting and amusing, W'ilbur trainee^ his third army 
and then got into one of the sections of the battery where 
he corporaled arouuLl until he was made a sergeant. 

khc general's methiKis were opposed to all battery 
precedent, but Wilbui' always stuck to them in spite ot 
this, antl he usuallv' commanLkxl a section ol good sol- 
diers. 



Page IIS 



The Red Guidon 



Fuel 




'^^ 



m H: 



%m 



:VEL for the Sibley 
stoves used in camp 
in the States was always 
a soit of bone of con- 
tention, Li\en on the 
border where the\' had 
but to go to the kitch- 
en at the head of the 
street to get it the bat- 

terymen would alw ays argue about whose turn it was 

to carry wood. 

in Alabama where the next eold weather caught them 
in tents, B Battery had the uniL|ue experience of hunting 
their own wood. Back of the camp was a big woods, 
part of which was in a swamp. There were at least a 
dozen kinds of woolI in this little forest, ele\en of which 
were good for ftiel. 

Although it was L|uite a tlistance to carry the stulf 
the Batter\men overcame much of the Lliffictiltv bv bring- 
ing in a whole tree at a time With a pair ol big wheel 
horses the boys would go down the hill to the woolIs, 
cut their tree down and by fastening a chain arouriLl it 
and attaching the chain to the harness, the matter of 
getting the log to camp was made easy. 

In camp, of course, the matter of getting the log cut 
into desirable pieces for the stove was always another 
subject of much discussion Alter having their tent 
cold for a night or two the bovs wouki get busv" and lill 
the place with ten inch sticks 

It was verv aggravating to "snake" a big log into 
camp and then fin^l that it coukln"t be cut. Such was 
the predicament that manv of the hattervmen found 
themselves in ^luring the first weeks in Camp Sheridan. 

After an all afternoon hunt one Saturday, Bill Sum- 
mers, Percy and "Huntz" Jackson, Bill Pearson and 
some other first section fellows came intt) camp with a 
huge log which looked perfect. After sawing it into the 
proper lengths, the work of splitting it into the desired 
widths commenced It was never completed though for 
the ax bounced off the block as it would from a block of 
iron. 

The Battery forester S B. Jackson informed the boys 
that they had brotight in some gtim-wood which would 
defy anything but dynamite It was the onlv wixid in 
the swamp that defied an ax and the first section boys 



were not the onlv' ones to be fooled. The fellows soon 
learned that the best bet was pine ani.1 when they left 
Camp Sheridan, there wasn't a pine tree nearer than two 
miles of B Battery's camp. 

When the next cold weather came and found the boys 
in I- ranee, there were many times they wished for just 
one old Camp Sheridan log, btiel of any sort was very 
scarce "over there " 

The first real need of a fire came while the Battery was 
living in the dug-outs and cellars of Laimont, Stoves 
could not be found anywhere and after fires were started 
right in the micklle of the dug-out floors it was a mighty 
struggle to find enough wood to keep them going. Every- 
thing burnable that the vigilant town-major didn't 
catch the boys taking went into the fires. 

At the front, of course, there were few fires, although 
It was eold at times. Dry wood could be burned with 
the least chance of detection so, in the positions on the 
Pannes sector, the old German billets served as fuel for 
the German stov es 

On that memorable hill above Rambluzin is where 
the greatest shortage was felt. After two days of vain 
efforts to cut down one of the man\- trees there, the 
Battcrymen started burning their bunks In every 
woods, the brench government had a watchman or 
forester, whose dutv' it was to protect the trees from axes, 
especially those of American soldiers. The standard 
price of a tree seemed to be twenty francs, for, regardless 
of size or kind, the hill presented for a tree chopped c^ovvn, 
was always the same. 

All wood for burning had to be purchased from the 
French Government They acquired their fuel wood 
by trimming rather than felling the trees. 

On one occasion John Michaels and "Okl Joe " Stone- 
barger came up to camp with several sacks of charcoal. 
A few days later Regimental Headquarters was informed 
that thev' would have to buv all the remaining charcoal 
in the building from which these sacks were stolen, bor 
the remainder of the stay on the hill the boys kept pretty 
warm for charcoal throws a lot of heat and the salvaged 
German stoves proved to be much nicer ti) have aroLincl 
than anything else of Teuton origin 

On the train bound lor the coast the Battcrymen haLl 
their first opportunity to use brench coal and they used 
plenty of it, too In Brest they again found tents 
equipped w ith Siblevs an^l it was the first thing that they 
had seen that looke^l like home. 

After those cold nights and colder mornings in France, 
surely no B Batteryman will recall "snaking" logs at 
Sheridan without remarking, "We didn't know how 
luckv we were." 



AKMYIKMS 



HOPb. as LlclineJ b\ Webster or his eontemporaries is; 
"a desire of gooel, aeeompanieJ with a heliel that 
it is attainable. " or, in anothei' sense, "one in whom 
trust or conficlenee is plaeeLl. " 

How and why does this concern you^ In what way 
should a discussion of "Hope" interest you' 

"Hope" is a beacon on the shoals of discouragement 
forever pointing us on to the harbor of success. Only 
"hope" bolsters up our billing courage in the face of 
apparent failure and we find in hope the inspiration to 
continue toward our goal, despite the difficulties besetting 
our path. Obstacles are o\ercome because they seem 
less imposing when hope, the searchlight is played upon 
them and we eventualK' ride o\er them and on to attain- 
ment, and success because we ha\e desired good m the 
belief that we may succecel. 

On the other hand, hope denicel, means despair, 
discouragement and defeat and we are plunged into a 
life of purposeless acti\ ity, wandering aimlessly from 
place to place because since there is no hope, of success, 
of advancement, there is nv mccntne to genious, to 
loyalty, to endea\or. 

But who lacks hope. No one ol us. to be sure, for 
its absence is nothing more nor less than eleath — tor 
hope is life 

That IS the psychology ol it. the theory, what is the 
practice' 

In B Battery, hope first became significant m It, 
E^en Harrison da\'s as a name applie^l to stu^lent officers 
the "hopes" and little diel the Batier\ realize the true 
meaning of the term, "one m whom trust or confidence 
is placed " 

In the thinking machmciA ol the soklier, hope 
takes on a new aspect, it loses a eeriain amount of the 
seriousness because it becomes such a part ol his life, so 
inseparably connecteel with his e\er\\lay alfairs, 

Hope go\erns the soldier's every act or its moti\e 
His Rising — Ihat there will l^c a lire (in wmterl : that 
the band w ill or w ill not pla\ , (..letermineel 
by his opinion ol their efforts or his 
faeilit\- at '.Ircssmg); that, il late, the 
sergeant will not report him, or if he 
does, that the sentence will be light 



THESE French don't seem to LiuLlerstanel then own 
language," said Chaplain .Atkinson to Major l\a\- 
enagh. 

'"You're right Chaplin," replietl the Ma|or, "I'xe 
noticed that myself." 



.\t Mess Call That there will be a .goo^l breakfast: that 
the K P are benexolent; for hot mess 
kit water: seconds for (buzzards). 

At Drill Call — To escape disagreeable details; for bunk 
fatigue, (if raining); for early recall, (if 
not ) . 

-At Stables — I'or a clean horse, anel a short grooming 
penoLl, 

-At Noon — I'or mail: for "beaucoup mess anel 

generous portions. 

At Drill (^all — To escape disagreeable details; lor bunk 
fatigue, it raining; lor earl\" recall, il not 

,\t Recall — lo escape guard dut\ , il on guard, for 

tlesirable post and relief 

At Retreat — Nothing — but — 

Later — (If ,going to town), for spced\' transpor- 

tation, (thinking of .\ lontgomer\- 1 

In I own II a flapper, for a flappee : anel later, to 

be on time lor check, (some of them) 

On Saturda\~ bor no inspection; or to escape detection 
of a dirty ctip. it inspeeteel; lor the half 
holidax' without details: to escape K. F-". 
the follow mg week. 

On SunLlas' I'or no work. 

E\eryda\' - I o escape extra duty 

In brance-- To go home "tout de suite ' 

.An^l of all ol these the last was not the least. 
So lite goes, with our ho|ies intermingled with our 
|o\s aiiel se)rrows. e\"er lulflllmg the worsts ol some un- 
known. 

"Nothing hoped lor nothing gained. 



"\\ h> . contmuci-l I loly joe. "1 went into a restaurant 
the other ^la\ an^l when the waitress came around 1 tokl 
her I wanted three eggies. straightie tippic. and she 
shrugged her shouklers and said. 'No eompre ' I 
couldn't see what was wrong, I said it jtist as plain, " 






pCftftSOK , ) 'SAM 

PlHOCMtt AV?*? 
PCOTS ^ 



StBF^lL 




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CPM> tHOOfCRS 







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lOOTBftLI, r't5'1v 







H^^r7s^cT '':^,''OLLBN^ECK M.^at^Z^ICHT 



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■nail <g^ 



The Red Guidon 



Page 121 



Athletic Meet at Camp Willis 



THE first time that B Battei\men e\er tried their ath- 
letic prouess against another organization was at 
Camp Willis on the occasion of the Field Meet held there 
for the 1st Ohio Battalion of I-ield Artillery. 

On Saturday. August 12, \'^\o, then, the best of the 
battalion's athletes were out to win every e\ent on the 
program, from the harness race to the ball-game. Apro- 
pos of this it might be said that B Batter\- sufiered the 
fewest disappointments. 

The first e\ent, that of harnessing, hitching anel driv- 
ing a team one hundred yards, was won b\ the C liatterx 
crew, with B Battery a close second, but from then on 
there wasn t much that didn't go to the Akron outfit. 

The tug-of-war anel both the one hundred and the 
two hundred and twenty yard dashes were won with 
ease by George Wright, who negotiated the one hundred 
yards in ten and three-fourth seconds. Then the saddle 



race, in which one saddled his horse and rode one hundied 
yards was won byL\le McCormick with Joe Kelly as 
his runnel' up, A prett\' spurt at the finish by Alphonse 
Falardeau won the relax' race for B Battery, while Charlie 
Weeks won the standing broad jump by inches. 

In none of the e\"ents did the Akron boys finish lower 
than second. In the high jump. Hamilton lost first 
place by a small fraction of an inch and Carleton Sperry 
in the ball-throwing contest was so close to first that 
there is still a question in the minds of some as to who did 
really wm. 

The baseball game that wound up the afternoon's 
contests was a loosely pla\ed affair which was won by 
the C Battery team, composed mostly of Columbus boys. 
Although this meet had not been very e.\tensi\ely 
ad\"ertised, there was an enthusiastic crowd of Columbus 
people out tn w itness the e\ ents of the afternoon. 



The Royal Sport of Pinochle 



SECOND only to crihbage was pinochle in its popularity 
with the B Batterymen who were all more or less 
card sharps inasmuch as the\- coukl play nearly an\' card 
game mentioned. In the absence of the necessary board 
to mark a game of cribliage. the ne.xt choice w as in\'ariably. 
pinochle. Like cribliage this game had its cranks anel 
one could always hear an argument when McCollum, 
Pearson. At. Wise and Friel got around a bunk with a 
pinochle deck in front of them. 

To Ted Powers goes the prize for melding, on the 
border. In a game with Spike Sperr\- one night Ted 
piled out a meld of 35i) and took all the tricks, I here 
seemed to be a scarcity of crihbage boards in Texas so 
the predominating game there most of the time was the 
short deck game. It being a game rather hard to teach 
and learn, its pla\ers were limited and it was olten hard 
to find four men in camp who could play. 

Among the best o\erseas players were Carl Shrank 



and Edwards. The championship games played at the 
Chateau du Mas did not conclusi\eIy decide the champion- 
ship, but when the smoke cleared awa\' there were but 
a few left. McC^ollum. Lee. I-'nel and Wise were still in 
the running and there seemed to be no chance for a 
decision. 

The pinochle fests on the ship, coming home, were 
e.xciting affairs and probably helped to keep up the 
Eiatterx liealth record bellows forgot that they were 
seasick in the excitement of the game. In almost every 
corner of the ship one could find a quartette of sharps 
passing the tickets aroun^l and occasionally making notes 
on a piece of paper. 

In the last game played in the Battery, jimmy Ben- 
nett claimed there was more reckless bidding that he 
had e\er heard of in his life, "Exerybody's so glad 
that they are going to be ci\ilians so soon that they bid 
4(.)U {.in nothing, " said lim. 



Page JT> 



The Red Guidon 



Mountain Climbing 



IT'S a safe het that mountain climhinji w 11 ne\er 
appeal to an old B Batteryman as a pleasmc. 

A large percentage of the boys who were in lexas got 
their first experience in this sport ( ') by climbing Mt 
Franklin. After one trip to the top though, the old hill 
lost its attraction for the boys. L'pon reaching the top 
they had to hunt a new way to get down for they could- 
n't descend the same path they used in coming up. 

Mt. Franklin lay behind Camp Pershing, the B 
Battery camp, and its majestic white peak looked to be 
only about ten or fifteen minutes walk from the Battery 
street. 

The Battery landed in Camp Pershing the last of the 
week and by Sunday e\ery man not on the sick report 
was packing a lunch for a trip to the summit of the 
mountain. Of course a great many more started than ever 
reached the top and after traveling fixe thousand of the 
seven thousand feet to the summit, many turned around. 
They found that what looked to be a ten minute walk 
was in reality an eight mile hike. 

The first B Battery pait>' to reach the top was: Don 
Northrup, Bill F-'oltz, Claire Ault, Clarence boust, Roscoe 
Poling, Russ Trombley, Tommy Thompson and Otis 
Shryock. T his party on its return effected a rescue of 
two men from the Fightli Ohio Infantry. 



The infantrymen had attempted to make the summit 
by a short route and w.ere caught on a ledge where they 
could neither get up or down 1 he\' said the\' had been 
there three hours. By tying web belts together and 
fastening their canteen straps on the end, the B Battery- 
men pulled the stranded doughboys to safety. 

In camp once more this party found another already 
returned. They were Sperry, Freelander, Shrank, Snapp, 
iMcCollum ani.1 Hobensack. Later on Cunningham. 
Cooper and Grimm came dragging themsehes in and they 
all swore that it was their last offense. 

Thereafter the E^atterymen onh" went as far up Mt. 
Franklin as they could on horseback. 

Surely those who climbeel the hills — young mountains 
they were, of Europe will never adopt mountain climbing 
as a pastime either. 

From the i.la\- thev landed at Liverpool and climbed 
that steep Moun Hill till the day they left Brest by climb- 
ing and i.lescenLling the hills arounel the Pontenazen 
Barracks, B flattery's days were full of climbing hills. 

Camp du Chanois above Rambluzin was only accessible 
after a climb of a half mile and before leaving that place 
e\ery Batter\man hai.1 sworn to stay on level ground 
unless the hills couki be descenLled by street ears. 



Baseball at Camp Perry 



OWING to the condition of the Lake fine C^amp Llur- 
ingB Battery's stay there it was out ol the question 
to think of baseball although the recruits coming m at 
that time could ha\e furnished a fine team 1 here was 
one game played after Lake Frie condescended to retire 
to its natural proportions, but boxing was the most in- 
teresting sport, 

.'Mthough not participated in by many of B Battery- 
men, boxing held the interest of all and proxed that as 



soon as the first rookie days were o\er the oLl men were 
going to learn something about glo\es 

The entire battalion used to turn out to watch the 
bouts between Fddie Jones and Chet Springer of C 
Batter\- and some (.)f the older boys. 

Aside from iMx-ddie Clark's hard luck f ■>) game against 
the Engineer's baseball team, B Battery didn't enter 
into sports much at Camp Perry, 



Baseball at Fort Benjamin Harrison 



T(X) much Battery work an^l too much Indianapolis 
are gi\en as reasons for the lack ol interest shown 
in baseball while the B Batterymen were at It ti^enjamin 
Harrison, Inel. 

There is no question about the hard wtirk there lor 
It was continuous ^Inll and eletail work all the time \\ hen 
not out helping train the caiilet offkers in the methoels ol 
artillery, the Batterymen w ere cleaning horses or materiel 
An occasional trip to the city then, was necessary for the 
l^urpose of relaxation. To spend the spare time practicing 
or playing baseball in camp was not to be thought of 
unless one was broke. 



George Brunei', (jlenn Spai.lc and t3on Cochran 
spent man>' an e\ening m tr\ing to get the bo>'s out lor 
some practice, btit met with little success. On one oc- 
casion the>- founLl enough to iustif\ them in accepting 
the challenge of .\ Battery for a game. The result of 
that game should ha\ e encouraged the fellow s to continue, 
but It didn't Warren Scott pitched the f^ liatterxmen 
to a one-siekxl \ictory. On the next occasion they lost 
to C Battery an^l thereafter the baseball was confined 
to warming-up. 



The Red Guidon 



Page J'SI 



The Polo Pastimers 



POLO as pla\cJ on the Meadow brook field by profes- 
sionals and on the mesa in Texas by B Batterymen dif- 
fers somewhat, not dtie ho\\e\er to lack of enthusiasm dis- 
plaNeel by the lattei'. Just who was responsible for 
introelueinfi the sport to B Battery is not definitely known 
but several among whom were 
Don Seott and Lyle XleCormiek 
lookei-l LiuiltN', 

Someone brought a polo stiek 
into camp, flaunted it in the 
laces of the boys anel as a result 
there was a run oi polo equip- 
ment It must be admitted that 
two dollars and a half for a polo 
stick is a mere pittance if one 
hoped to see his picture in Vanity 
Fair with the other celebrities. Bob 
Newman as well as Oscar Hol- 
lenbcck and Horace Shaw at once 
discovered that they had the original polo ponies, while 
Tommy Thompson. Howard Treat and Captain Al- 
brecht admitted that the\ made the best appearance 
on the field. 

Then those strenuous though painlul weeks ot practice 




with the oh' so elusiw ball and the stick ne\er the right 
length nor weight But tired though he was, any man 
would argue o\er this or that point It was in the 
after-game argument that the boys learned the fine 
points. 

In the \ ery mi^lst of it came the ortler that go\ernment 
horses were not to be used for polo. but. of course, there 
were those to whom such an order meant nothing. Bob 
Newman played his lead horse a few weeks longer and it 
took a month before "Hollie" and his "Baldx" could be 
paeificLl The old fire department horses had met their 
ri\als in these ponies. 

The horses suffered greath' for the polo stick was 
continually tripping them and ha\ ing no particular 
grudge against the ball the\- usually ran away from it. 
Captain Albrecht went out to pla\ one da\- and at the 
the first shot he lost the Ixill. but. of course, it was the 
pony's fault 

It IS hintei.! that m the homes of some of the Battery- 
men there are hidden away these polo sticks, perhaps, 
"their skeleton in the closet." 

There was a re\i\al of the game in (~amp Sheridan, 
but most of the players were Majors or better, so B 
Battery didn't become enthused again. 



The Crihbage Evil 



i Tl 



.'hat is the definition gi\'en by Johnn>- W alker and 
Al Borden lor the game of cribbage. A definition that will 
probabK' be acknowledged by many of the sharps of B 
Battery who used to sit around their tents an^l "fifteen — 
two. fifteen — four" until the lights were put out, 

"Major" i\Icl\ee\'er ah\ays claimed that he in\ente^l 
the game and couldn't be beaten but ne\ertheless on 
many occasions he left the table forming alibis and claim- 
ing that he forgot to "peg 'em all ' 

Many were the card games that came and went in 
their popularit\' w ith the Batterymen. Ihey plaxcel them 
all from bridge-whist to penny-ante, but the only one to 
sur\i\e the lour years without having at any time been 
forgotten, was cribbage. With such fellows as Johnny 
Walker, Roland Herbert. Bill Pearson and CKde Cre\eling 
to stand sponsor for it. cribbage couldn't be forgotten. 

At Camp Sheridan there seemed to be a noticeable 
shortage in players of this favorite pastime, but nothing 
daunted Bill Pearson and "Mutt " Bailsman each with a 



string ol proteges soon had the game back on the okl 
footing. In fact there was alwa\s a cribbage game where 
there was a cribbage board to be found. 

Although there ne\er was any gambling on a game of 
cribbage. there was an attachment felt by all the players 
lor the game that often pulled them out of a w inning crap 
game to pla\ a few rounds ol "fifteen — two."" Some of 
the most heate^l arguments that e\er took place in camp, 
started oxer some point in a ciiblxtge game. 1 here were, 
times that Cliff Schnake didn"t speak to a man in his 
tent, JList on account of some misunderstanding o\er a 
cribbage game. On one occasion Cliff was almost forced 
to sleep outside, alter Bill Pearson had thrown his bunk 
out of the tent. 

The championsb.ip in this game, although ne\er 
actually decided by a series of games, was claimed by at 
least si.\ men in the Battery. Bill Pearson had probably 
the best claim on it, l:iLit he was alwa\s hotl\' contested 
b>- Tub Lamiell, Harold Moock and several other peggers 
in the Batter\'. 



Do you remember F'red Exner's "0\er the Top" story ^ Do you remember the craf 



Swede. Bill Bass^ 



The Red (liiidon 



Page rj.') 



Basketball at Camp Sheridan 



DURINCJ B [-battery's sojoLirn In Camp Shcri^lan Uic 
athletes of that ori^anization took part in all eamp 
athletics anel maele an enxiable record in e\cry liianch 

Alter the strenuous season of lootball it was rathei" 
hard to arouse any interest in basketball immediatelv 
and the season had about half fled when the boys cliel 
finally get together. \\ hen the\- lIilI oi'ganize though, 
they were so far ahead of the other eamp teams that it 
was decided they could beat the crack northern teams. 
No of^cial games were played, but the Batterymen would 
go to the gym at the Coliseum and challenge an\' fi\e 
men on the floor. A schedule was arranged lor three 
games and the bo\s were <>n then' way tor Ohio 
March 1st. 

Owing to a misunderstanding the team was ndt all 
present lor the first game which was with the sturdy 
U. B's. of Canton. 1 he Jackson brothers ani.1 Chll 
Schnake being the (>nl\ Batter\men on the lloor that 
night, a team was maele Lip of substitutes from ("anton. 
It was a fast game, but owing to the boys tinlamiliarity 
with each other, the B Battery trio were on the short 
end of a 2S to 20 score. 

The following evening the B Batter\ e|uintette were 
on the floor early and in fine shape, \ he opponents for 
this game were none other than the much heralded Mt. 
Union varsity team, at that time making a strong bid lor 
the Ohio conference title. This was the big game of the 
trip and the bo\s were all ready for it, Ihe 1\. of C^, had 



lurnisheel the tinilnrms, anel \er\' appropriate ones for 
a team ol sokliers too. They were red, while and blue. 
Ihe ^. .\1 C .\ g\-mnasium was used to play the 
game m anel it eoukln't accommodate half of the enthusi- 
astic crowd ol fans whn tuineel out to watch the game. 
In the practice preccLling the game. Craig Starn and 
bluntz Jackson held the crowd spellbouni.1 with their 
trick basket shooting while ("liff Schnake and Ike Spicer 
surprise^l them in the abilit\' to shoot fouls from the 
center. 

Ihe game was one ol the fastest that ( 'anton people 
had been prixileged to see that \ear Ihe first half of 
the game was almost e\en, btit the stuixK ruggeclness 
of the artillerymen showeel in the last half. These 
lellows were all o\ci" the floor an^l seemed to ne\er tire. 

I he final score was 44 to 2o with B Batter\ on top. 
I hurman Stauelt replace^l I\'re\' Jackson in the 
seconel hall an^l eontinLKxl pla\ing the same snapp\ game 
Pere\' hatl pla\ei_l Ihe baskets were seoieel as lollows: 
Staudt, I--V Schnake, \- — 3: P. Jackson. \- -1 ; Spieer, 
C — 7; Stain Ci- >; J. Jackson, C- (r Ihe li\e IoliIs 
were shot b\- J Jackson anel Spieer. 

1 he ,L;ame seheeluleLl in .-\kron was cancelled lor some 
unknown reason anel the B Batter>mcn returned to 
Alabama \er\ proikl ol ha\ ing beaten one of ihe strongest 
teams in (.''hio anel onl\ sorry that their luiloughs were 
not long enough to allow them to pla\ some more. 



Basketball at Chateau du Mas 



AFTER the arrival at the Chateau du Mas near Lc 
Lion de Angers the Batter\men became c|uite rest- 
less waiting for mo\ ing orders. There were no amiise- 
ments, no entertainments or no sports so naturalK 
there was a feeling of discontent throughout B Batter\ . 
In the rear ol the chateau the baron hael a large sheep 
barn. Somebody got the idea that this barn would make 
an ideal gymnasium and so Baron Chalet, the owner, was 
approached on the subject of turning it o\cr to the 
Battery. It no doubt appealed to the baron's sense of 
humor for he unhesitatingly ga\ e his permission to use the 
place as a g\'m and penne^l his sheei"" up in one eni.1 of the 
barn. 

At the ^ . M. C. A. in Le Lion the Batterymen ace|uired 
an indoor baseball a pair of bo.xing glo\es and a basket- 
ball. With these and two barrel hoops the gymnasium 
was eLiuippe^l and B Battery athletes were again in 
training 1 he barn made such an ideal basketball hall 



that in a short time all the other articles were forgotten 
and the basketball was the only thing in e\idence in the 
B Batter\ g\m 

A basketball team was formed in each of the sections 
an^l a series ol games started between them It soon 
lIcxcIopclI that most ol the Uilent was in the ihiiLl and 
fourth Sections anel the other lellows gradualK' lost 
interest. With such men as Spieer. Miller. Moledor and 
Bennett shooting baskets tor the thiivl section team an^l 
Edwarcfs, Mc("ollum. Scott and Hogue dropping them in 
for the fourth section quintette, there were but a few real 
snappy plaxers left for the other teams. 

lOuring the stay at the chateau there were many 
e.xeitmg games played and just before the mo\ ing orders 
came. Lieutenant 1 latch arranged for a series of games 
in the eit\ of .\ngers, with some of the strong teams 
there ('oming when it diel, the orelers to move to Brest 
were haixlK' weleonuxl b\ the tossers of B Balterv. 



Page J 26 



The Red Guidon 



Baseball at Camp Sheridan 



ON the rcfj,imcntal i^asclxill team that was formed at 
C^amp Sheridan there were (he B Batterymen thus 
upholding the organization's enviable record in athletics. 
These men were Scott and Grossman, pitchers: Thomas, 
first base; Sayre. right field and Newkirk, left field. 
Out of ten games played this team won eight 

Errors were the cause of the Lleleat at the hands of 
[he 1 I'ith f-ielel Artillery team with Adams of the Mud- 
Hens pitching for the Toledo boys. Grossman's bad 
arm anel the lack of a substitute for him was the cause of 
the other escaped \ letory. 

During the season there were enough thrills hancied 
out in the games to satisf\- the most seasoned fan. In a 
game against the 1 5tith F^ield Artillery team the score 
stood .S to h in fa\(M- of the I 3tith in the eighth inning. 
The 1 34th men filkxl the bases and Dick Thomas knocked 
one into Montgomery, scoring everybody and everything. 
In their half of the ninth the \isitors filled the bases on 
Grossman ani.1 things looked bad tintil he struck out 
Shannon a lormcr protege of Gonnie Mack and forced 



johnny l^ell the Senator outfielder to pop up. retiring 
the side. 

Another thriller was furnished in the game with the 
1 12th Sanitary I ram team. Ihe game went nine innings 
with the score standing 2 to 2. Warren Scott was doing 
the hurling for the artillcr>men and was going fine. In 
the last of the ninth w ith two men gone. Long of the 1 34th 
landed a homer putting his team in the lead. A pinch- 
hitter for the 1 12th put one o\er Lieutenant Watt's head 
in center fiekl eluplicating Long's feat and tying the 
score. In the tenth Grossman, batting for Scott, got 
behind one anel put a home-run tag on it thus giving the 
game to the 1 ^4th lor Hal held the opponents nicely in 
their half of the tenth. 

So the season was full of thrills and every game had 
a big turn out of enthusiastic rooters. The mo\'e to 
Gamp LJpton cut the season short, but it was getting 
almost too hot to play and the boys didn't regret the cut. 

The 1 34th team hatting average for the season was 
4 lb. Truly they were all sluggers. 



Pistol Practice 



CONSIDERED as part of the training of an artillery- 
man b\- the army officials, pistol practice was a sport 
that the Batterymen enjo\ed in e\ery camp that it was 
possible to build a range on. The only objection to target 
practice with pistols is that it encourages prevarication 
and alil^i hunting. 

The range in Texas was an ideal one, being at the 
foot of one of the hills. The targets were placed against 
the hill and the firing line was always back just fai- enough 
to make the black and white circles stand out plainly 
before the dark background. The days were bright, 
fair ones and the ammunition was plentiful. Apparently 
there was no excuse for not hitting the bull's eye every 
time but there were always plenty of alibis. Either the 
wind was in the wrong direction, the sand was blowing 
too strong or the hair-spring was stilT There was an 
alibi for each man. Only one man in B Battery was 
awarded the 'expert pistol " medal at this range. He 
was Elbert Gox. Their shooting of a rattlesnake on the 
range one day proved that Gaptain Albrecht and 



Lieutenant Babbitt were able to hit things when it was 
necessar\' 

The range at Gamp Sheridan was the result of weeks 
of hard pick and sho\'el work Trenches twelve feet 
deep were dug and the dirt thrown up in the form of a 
parapet which was used as a background for the targets. 
During the entire time of building and using this range. 
It was miserabh' hot. The majority of the alibis were 
founded upon this fact when no one qualified as "expert, " 

The original alibi came from Jimmy Bennett though. 
"Every time that I sight that parapet, where I worked 
so darned harel, through my sights, " said |imm>', "1 get 
mad and fire up in the air, " 

In T-rance there was no official range, but that didn t 
keep the Batterymen from firing their guns after the 
armistice was signed. They used the entire Republic of 
Trance for a range. They could find ammunition on any 
sahage dump and targets were plentiful There was 
some wonderful scores made there where there was no 
official score keeper. 



THE liattery one day reached Gestas, a beautiful little 
village far down in Southern Erance away from the 
"awful" Western iM-ont. The place was like a paradise 
compared to some of the other A. E. E. billeting towns. 



'"^bu gotta hancl it to this guy Newton Baker," said 
Sidney Sedberry, "he certainb' sends this Battery on 
some nice excursions." 



The Red Guidon 



Page I'J} 



Boxing at Ft. Benjamin Harrison 



RECALL the hoxcis an^l ixinncrs oi \-t. Ben M.ii- 
rison. 

Let's see, there was some kind nl an oixler oi" memor- 
andum from battalion heaLlc|iiaiters to the effeet all men 
would he requireel to take athletie traminj^, A progi'am 
of afternoon boxing, wrestling and running was put otit 
and Lieutenant William Watt. Lietitenant O. D Hollen- 
beck and others were put in charge. 

Batterymen put on box- 
ing glo\es that ne\er had 
seen a boxing bout before. 
And Bill Vaughn, in charge 
of the wrestling for the Bat- 
tery went to the mat a ith 
boys who didn't know a toe 
hold from the Masonic grip. 

The memorandum said 
athletes were to be made for 
the courier seixice in the war 
in Lrancc. Runners were 
to be trained and the box- 
ing and wrestling was to help 
make B Battery a track team 
in O. D. How the boys, 

Boh Spade, Earl Youngs and Mike Slates used to race 
around the picketlines those hot afternoons' IhcN 
figured the>- would be the fastest sprinters on the West 
[">ont when the big trial came. And they did dexelop: 
their wind became good and their appetites surprised the 
hoys themselves. 

The men used to gather around the boxing ring over 
in the field where Lieutenant Hollenbeck, George \\ hite 
ani-l |ake\- Sheibman arranged and staged the bouts. 




.Some ol those bouts were whirlwinLls There was no 

science to speak of, hut the haymakers that Ed. Jacobs. 

L5ick Wagoner and Oda Reynolds used to untie and 

send o\er would ha\ e been knockouts had any of them 

e\ er landed on an\'body. 

I he ofiicers used to go down and watch the sport, and 

not a few of the boys boosted their stock w ith the "powers 

that be" by their gameness in those battles. 

"Shortv " I hompson and 
Howari.1 .Miller put on a 
furious bout one day. 0\er 
in the battery street the 
boys used to box an hour or 
two e\ery night. George 
Bruner boxed with Bill Mur- 
l^h\ one night and the gang 
saw a good bout. M. L. Clark 
and his younger brother Llew- 
elK n used to put on the glo\es 
an^l try to e\'en up old argu- 
ments. 

Boh Wiener anLl Radcliff 
Hess were the featherweight 
boxers and their shows were 

last. One ol them wouki heat the other one night and 

die next night it would he the other way. 

One day m a well advertised bout George White and 

Miles Rubnght went over to the athletic field to box. 

I he seconds were there and the stage w as set for a big 

show . but George stopped "Rube" after dodging a couple 

1)1 havmakers. 

[5y the time the Battery got ready to leave for 

.Alabama most ol the men were hard as nails. 



Boxing on H. M. S. ''Nestor" 



FOR entertainment on hoarv.1 the .\estor. |ulv 4th. en- 
route for Erance, the officials arranged some boxing 
bouts and knowing B E^atterv s recorcl in athletics thcv 
approached some ot the hoys. .As a result there were 
four B Batterymen on the program that was presented 
on deck that afternoon 

Inasmuch as nearlv all the Ixivs had been sulfering 
from seasickness hut recentiv' it was hardl\ expected 
that there would he that many in condition. The hovs 
said they were, so the bouts were arrange^l There was 
a mistake about the condition business though for freddy 
Exner proved to he very much without stamina. 

Boh Wiener and Llewellyn Clark put on a classv- little 
three round draw that created quite an impression on 
the ship's doctor who was an old "pug" himself. 



TrcLklv' Tixner started a three rounLl affair with KilI 
X'legn from some other outfit on KkhxI but was forced to 
L|uit m the seconi-l roun^l when he lounel that he wasn't 
in such good condition as he thotight 

There were several ,gooi.l botits by fellows oLitsiele the 
Batterv' aixl thev all receivei,! their share of applause, 
I he show was wounel up hv a bout between Sergeant 
.\lcOuade of C. Battery anel Cieorge White. B Battery's 
star It was a regular whirlwinel of glovcel hanels It 
was verv close btit the ship's eloctor who refereecf all the 
bouts, gave White a shade on his aggressiveness. 

In an elimination contest hekl later, to deeiele the 
champion in each class on hoard, [3ob W lener split the 
I 50 pounders purse w ith a feather from some other outfit 
George W hite did not enter this contest. 



Page 128 



The Hal Guidon 



The Section Race at Ft. Benjamin Harrison 



PART of the 4th of July cclehratiiin at IT. Ben was a 
section race between sections h'om each ol the three 
organizations in camp there. A section race being a 
race against time is somewhat different from an>' other 
race that was e\er run- It was a contest to determine 
in which battery the lastest drivers and cannoneers were. 
The idea was to hitcii and harness the horses, dri\ e 200 
>'ards and fire a shot. I he winners got, aside from all 
the honor attached to it, an extra piece ol peach cobbler 
for supper. 

The race was held on a stretch of ground between the 
officers' row and the battery kitchens, and was witnessed 
by a \ery enthusiastic crowd ol civilians. Parents and 
friends of the Batterymen had come to spend the holiday 
and were deeply interested to see them at their work. 

At one carriage Boh Newman, ,Alphonse Falardeau 
and Ed. McCoUum stood ready to throw on then- 
harness as soon as the shot was lired. At the other 
Stanley BuUarcl, Fred Clark and bred Robinson im- 



patiently twirled their bilLlles waiting for the chance to 
show the other batteries up, 

A shot — and down the field they went, A Battery 
had done the stunt in si.x minutes and three seconds and 
they were out to beat that. As the B Battery carriages 
went down the field one could see Sergeant John Wood- 
ward and .\Iike Cireen all ready tor the leap to the 
ground. On the a.xle seats, Al Borden an^l Miles Rub- 
right were remo\ ing all the covers from the gun as the 
drivers spurred their horses onward at a dead gallop. 
On the caisson Ralph Moose and Bill Bowen had 
everything in readiness to fire. 

As the gun and caisson were dropped and the limbers 
pulled on dov\n the field the Batterymen literally flew 
around the gun until, just live minutes and seventeen 
seconds alter the start 200 vards awav', the shot was 
fired. 1 hat record was not beaten and stands till this 
day in the 1 34th regiment if not in the entire United 
States, 



Field Day and Athletic Meet at Camp Sheridan 



UNDER the auspices of the ^', M, C, A and the .\rmy, 
the largest Field Day and Athletic Meet of the year 
was staged at Camp Sheridan October 24, 1017. In this, 
as in most athletic shows, B Battery covered itself w ith 
glory. 

The program for the day consisted of wrestling, 
boxing, running and jumping, and it being a regimental 
affair, there were a good nianv entries for each event, 

Walter Vaughn, B Battery's only entry to the w restling 
event, easily stretched his man out in six and a half 
minutes. 

There were several entries in the boxing events from 
the Rubber City. I he Clark brothers put on a lightning 
three round bout in which there could be no decision. 
George White shadeel Sergeant Fongstruth of D Battery 
and Chet Springer of C Battery furnished one of tlie 
prettiest performances of the afternoon by stopping 
Funning of Headquarters Company in two rounds. 

"I he mounted wrestling furnished lots of thrills until 
Sergeant Clyde Miller's accident caused the crowd to 
gasp at what they thought a tragedy. While not engaged 



with his opponent. Homer Fionsen, and while traveling 
at a trot, Sergeant Miller, while endeavoring to straighten 
his blanket, fell i.lirectlv' under his horse injuring his 
right arm. Only the ctjolness and instinct of "Duke." 
Sergeant Miller's favorite mount, saved him from further 
injuries. The beast stepped over his master while going 
at a trot and never touched him, .-Xrt Possehl, wrestling 
w ith an A Battery man easily dismounted his opponent 
m C|uick time, 

4 he B Batterv' runners under the direction of Sergeant 
Falardeau, showed well m all the events they entered. 
Homer Eckert was forced to drop after the first mile of 
the tw(5 mile race when he turned his ankle, but Mike 
Slates finished third. Fail ^ oLings fifth and Paul Vignos 
sixth in this event among a field of twenty-five stars. 

In the one hunLlred \ard dash, B Battery's only entry, 
Jesse Sayrc. finished second receiving a loving cup as a 
prize. 

In the other ev ents B Batterv' had no entries, inasmuch 
as they had only been in camp a month and had found 
no time to train for them. 



Fish Ed, Jacobs when he bet two dollars there would 
be a dance on a Red Cross ship, July 4th, on the 
wav across the ocean 



Fish Capt, .Albrecht, Sergt, Hollenheck. Buck Weaver, 
Fieut, Babbitt. Fred E.xner and Jack Sperrv" when 
thev bought "race horses " at laurez. 



The lied (hiidon 



Page T2U 



Football in Texas 



ONE of the best football teams that pla\eel around 
the Texas sand piles, during the American "occu- 
pation" of El Paso, in I'^U^, was the 11th Provisional, 
eleven of B Battery stars. 

That team was probably the best grid outfit the 
Battery ever sent into the field. It was not a Battery B 
team in the sense that later elevens were but the make-up 
of it was so much like Akron 
that it smelled of rubber. 
That at least is what some of 
the boys who tried for berths 
on the team used to say. 

The 1 Ith Provisional team 
was composed of B Battery 
men with a sprinkling of \ lich- 
igan L'niversitv' stars liom 
the Michigan Field Artillerv 
and they should have been 
champions on the border 
In three out of the five 
championship games they 
played in the El Paso con- 
ference they shut out then- 
opponents. The team lost a kinel ol a lixak game with 
the hefty bourth Ohio Infantry outfit and a hard 
fought contest to the 32nd i\ lichigan eleven. 

That first lose would not have eliminate^l them Irom 
the race for honors hai.1 not the team been forced to meet 
the 32nd .Michigan outfit later with a wagon-load ol 
cripples. The game the boys lost to the Michigan team 
would have bjen an easv- one hael the I3attery outfit not 
been on crutches, or sick in bed. .\s it was with Oscar 




Hollenbcck an^l C^.haiiey Weeks on the sick report with 
lame legs and broken ribs, Re.\ Hitchcock in bed with the 
measles and Lieutenant C^hattock out with injuries the 
team went m and held the .Michigan men to a 1 3 to 7 
score. 

I hat contest was a warm one an^l the ofiicials were 
nearly mobbed by the .Artillery rooters. The crowd 

overran the fiekl and it was 
nothing short of respect for 
their rank that saved the 
referee and umpire from a 
mauling. It was agreed on 
all siv.les their work was 
punk. 

The 1 1th I-'rov isional team 
won two games from the 
> Mxl Michigan Infantry. 
1 he first was copped 3 to 
U and the second to 0. 
The .-Xttillervmen beat the 
2f)th Infantrv by the score of 
1 3 to 0. 

I here were some real foot- 
ball plavers on the team that represented the Ohio and 
.Michigan battalions, men like Homer Davis, Hulton, 
Garrett, Hobensack, Hollenbeck, Hitchcock, Hoag, 
Strope, .Me("ormiek. Bradman and Rubright. Jack 
Wise. Bill bolt:, f^rvant. Sterling. Thompson and 
Weeks were a lew more the llth Provisional had 
to relv ui^on 1 litchcock and Hollenbeck coached the 
bovs and there were no better traincLl elevens around 
ElPaso. 



Football at Camp Sheridan 



SECOND only to theB Battery team of the year be- 
fore was the aggregation that the Akron outfit sent to 
the gridiron at Camp Sheridan in the season of 17, 
Such a gang of line plungers is seldom seen outside a 
big college team. Indeed there were some who claimed 
that its equal couldn t be found even there. 

In the seven games plavcd, li Liattery hael seven 
points scored on them against their one hundred and 
twenty-eight on their opponents. The game in which 
the seven points were scored was a one sided alfair w hich 
B Battery won 52 to 7. Not a game was lost by the Rub- 
ber City boys and only once were they in any real dan- 
ger. That was in the game with the strong Battery F 
team of the 1 3hth Fiekl .Artillerv. when in the last few- 



minutes ol play joe Schreiner dropped one ov er the 
bar. w inning the game 3 to 

In the first game of the season, against the tough 
Headquarters Company team, one of the fastest men was 
ptit out Cliff Schnakc. the whirlwind end, received an 
injury to his knee that threatened to be very serious. 
C.lilf di^ln't get back into the game until the end of the 
season. 

With such 11-ien as Stewart Hobensack, Bill Steinel 
and Casey Price hitting the line, the opposition seemed 
to fade away and with men like Ike Spicer, I ub Lamiell 
and Art Posschl on the line, it needed bLit the incentive, 
to go out ani.1 w m a game. 

After the elimination games which were played 



Page 130 



The Red (hiidoii 



between the eliKerent Batteries, a ref^imental team was 
pickeel from each regiment and a schedule arranged to 
decide the championship of the di\ ision. In the 134th 
regiment, twenty men were chosen to represent the 
organizatitm and SIXTEEN OF TMOSE MEN CAME 
F-^ROM B BATTER^'. 

This team started out just w here the old battery team 
hael Icit off and won games until it almost ceased to be a 
question of "will they win^" 
but rather, "how bad will 
the\' heat this team^ ' It 
was alter the holiday season 
when the final game was 
played an^l naturally interest 
had begun to lag in the grid- 
iron sport, in fact, some of 
the lellows lailed to report 
lor the games preferring to 
get some batting practice for 
the coming baseball season. 
It was too much for even the 
strong 1 34th team for the> 
played right along ne\er miss- 
ing a scheduled game, while 
the other teams rested up and waiteel on them. 

The work of the Jackson brothers on this team v\as 
especially notable. Percy at quarter showed rare judg- 
ment on all occasions while "Huntz" by his lightning 
work on chlI pulled the team out of man\- a hole "Hobby" 
continued his daring line plunging and was the terror ol 
all the opposing lineman. George Bruner with his fine 
and accurate forward-passing was always to be relied 
upon, while any one who got through the line while 
Possehl. l^amiell and Spicer were on defensi\e usually 
knew that the\ had been some place. 




After a clean recorel for the season; after beating such 
teams as the 13nh and Moth kield Artillery and the 
112th Sanitar\- Train, the 134th ele\en met defeat in a 
game with the II 2th Ammunition team, composed of 
former Maroon men Irom the strong Toledo semi-pro 
team, by the score of 14 to 7. It was a game played 
under a handicap inasmuch as the Ammunition Train 
had not played a game lor two weeks and were in perfect 

trim while the artillerymen 
ha^l played three games in 
that time. I hen as some 
will protest to this day. the 
game was literalK' stolen by 
the referee who seemed to 
fa\or the opponents in e\ ery- 
thing. The game was won 
in the last period when Nich- 
ols the fast halfback for the 
ammunition men ran around 
the enel for a touchdown. 
I he olfensiN e work of Bill 
Steinel and At lee Wise was 
commendable. Bill scoring the 
only tOLichelown lor the 134th. 

The fact that the relerce wore an officer s uniform is 
without efoubt the onK thing that sa\ed him from the 
wrath of the crowd when he called "Huntz" Jackson 
back to the center of the (lekl after he had scored the 
tying touchelown 

Although It was the onK game lost b\ the artillery- 
men It was excusable f-'X the fact that the\ were short of 
men and enthusiasm. 




134th hiekl .ArtillerN football 4 earn. Camp Sherielan. .Alabama. f-^lZ-lS 



I'he Red Guidon 



Page 131 



Bush Feels Good 



ONE of the stories George Bruncr. Miles Rubright and 
tjeorge White used to tell about the officers at Fort 
Ben Harrison concerned the ambition of Captain John- 
ston, Lieutenants Ka\enagh and Wise and other officers 
in the battalion to learn to box. 

"One of the staff used to see us e\ery day. ' said Miles 
Rubright, "and ask about arrangements for bo.xing lessons 
and he would promise to come out next day and put on 
the glo\es. But no officers ever came out. I think 
they were afraid of some of the haymakers that were 
flying around the ring when the bo\s vxorked among 
themsehes. But I guess Captain Johnston could box. 
He used to box in school at Purdue and ma\be it's a 



good thing that he didn t come out and show us what he 
had," continued Rube. 

Martin Glasgow and Gerald Gru\er were boxing in 
the Fort Benjamin ring one Sunday morning after e\ ery- 
body else had been marcheci to church. The two boys 
and George White were about the only Batter>' soldiers 
that had not gone to church. 

i he boxers were mixing it in when Major Bush came 
upon them. Referee White str)pped the bout and got 
ready for the bawling out. But on that occasion the 
commanding officer forgot the boys were skipping Sunday 
school and tokl them to continue the show. Major 
Bush then refereed the bout. 



Tommy's Promoter 



SHOWING that two heads are better than one especialU 
if one of them is a business heaci and knows the 
other. 

Tommy "i homp.son and George White were in a long 
line of "!'. M. C. A. chocolate buyers one day in f-^rance 
when two big husky boys from some other organization 
essayed to "horn" into the line just ahead of Thompson. 

Tommy ne\er called himself a scrapper in the Battery 
and he wouldn't have tackled the big boy, stepping in 
ahead of him if he had been a scrapper. But he was 
awful mad He hesitated a moment, kioked up and 
down at the intruder and then back at Ck-orge White. 
George White, the boxing instructor of Battery B. himself. 

Tomm\- turned again toward the big fellow in front of 
him. 1 hen with his elbow he jarred the stranger in the 



the ribs so that the big boy went out ol the line with a 
bang, "^'ou big stilf what do you mean stepping into 
the line in front of me. For ten centimes I wotild drag 
you out of the l.xiilding and make a casual out ol you. 
'I'ou big ham ' And Tommy made a mo\e toward the 
I'lig bo\ and grtinted, ani.1 the impolite soldier shuffled oft 
t()ward the rear of the line, his buddy lollowing him. 

As Tommy explained afterward he haci not acted 
rashly. It was his plan to do the talking and then if 
there was to be any fighting he was going to pull George 
White out of line and explain that George did the fighting. 
( )ne head was indispensable to the other as it worked out. 

" That s the kind of strategy that won the war," 
White said. 




Page 132 



The Red Guidon 



Sergt. "Dick" Lavery 



ONE of the most reticent men that B Battery ever 
knew, in regard to talking about himself, was 
Stable Sergeant Richard T, l.a\ery. It was a rare 
occasion when he opened tip on a little bit of personal 
history — but when he did "Oh. la la'" as the French would 
have it ; for his tales of former experiences w ere a com- 
bination of Zane Grey, B. M. Bower, and Polly of the 
Circus, all rolled into one. One afternoon in France (the 
war was over) there was a rumor that the regiment would 
parade in Washington on Christmas Day, and he got 
two letters from his wife: the combination put him in 
such an unusually good humor that he came through 
with the story of his life to Mitchell F-'oshee and Christian 
"Shorty" Mogensen. 

"I don't remember a whole lot of dates," Dick said, 
as he slapped some saddle-soap on a bridle, "I'xe been 
too busy tra\'eling around. Way back in the beginning, 
before I was born, my mother and father were riders — 
bareback you know — with the Sanger Circus, an Aus- 
tralian show that showed in pretty nearly all of Ettrope. 
They were with the Bostock shows for a while too. 

"Then I came along. I was born in Queensland, 
Australia, while my dad was still riding with Sanger. 1 
gtiess the first thing 1 remember was when I was three 
years old, for that's when ! first started to ride. They 
put me on a big white horse with a mechanic — one of 
those things they strap around your waist when riders 
start doing stunts. E\er\- once in awhile the horse 
walked out from under me and left me kicking my legs 
and hanging in the air." 

"When did >ou first come to the LnitCLl States^ " 
Shorty asked him. 

"Oh, Lord! I don't remember the date! I know I was 
sixteen years old. I was with the Bostock show at the 

time. Where's that cl curb-bit that goes with this 

bridle:"" 

Foshee rescued the bit from under Dick's bunk, 
handed it to him and La\ery went on ; 

"Then, when I was \'^. I went over to Europe again. 
That time I was with a bareback act in vaudeville. We 
stayed at the Olympia theater in London for 32 weeks 
and we played in Paris. Marseilles, Berlin. Cologne. 
Hamburg, X'ienna — oh, we made all the big towns' That 
act lasted three seasons and then I came back to the 
States. From then on, it's pretty well mixed up — 
I did so darn many things. I was with the Seegram 
people for a while in Canada, breeding horses. Then I 
drove and trained the blue-ribbon team for the Union 
Stock Yards — the one that took a blue ribbon at the 
International Stock Show " 

"Ever drive the twenty-mule team for the Borax 
people, Dick^" Shorty asked. 



"Nope, but I tlid i.lri\e chariot for Ringling Bros. 
Circus 1 hat was the life! There's lots of wise guys 
that w ill tell you those circus chariot races are 'fixed", but 
I know better. I here was another bird, a pal of mine; 
he used to dn\e lour big bays while I was dri\'ing four 
blacks and e\ery time I went into the tent. 1 went with 
the idea of making those blacks beat the ba\s, or bust 
a leg! 

"It was in F>1 I, I think, when I started with Ringling. 
I usclI to travel with the show in summer, and when it 
went into w inter-qtiarters I rode for the Chicago Stock 

^'ar^ls: then I was with 
the "Broncho John" 
outfit for awhile, ^'ou 
had to know how to 
riLle to get by with 
that show! That out- 
fit used to ad\'ertise 
that their riders could 
ride anything on four 
legs, and tell the farm- 
ers to bring in their 
w 1 kl stock. They 
brought them in. too 
— anything from a 
crazy mule to a wild 
steer. There was one 
time when exery rider 
in the show was crip- 
pled. 

"Then I was with 
I the Cohan Lixery, a 
ruling school in Chi- 
cago, and I went with the 1 1 B. Gentry Dog and Pony 
Show one season, training ponies for them. 

"The last job I had before joining the army was with 
a man named Marshal at the Chicago Stock ^'ards. He 
was a broker selling horses to the British and French 
go\ernments for war use. And. in 1*^17, I thought with 
so many good horses going into the army, it was about 
time for me to get in I tried to get in the cavalry, but 
they were full up and I finally went to Akron and joined 
B Battery on the eleventh of September. And you know 
the rest." 

"Before you quit, Dick, what was the funniest thing 
that e\er happened to >ou^ asked Mogensen. 
"And the queerest^ ' chimed in Foshee. 
"And the best''" added Shorty. 

Lavery thought a couple of minutes, lit a eigaret, 

and threw the bridle into a corner. Then he grinned: — 

"Well, I'll tell \ou, " he said, "Maybe you won't 

believe it, but they all happened after I came in the 

Batterv. The funniest thing was when 1 was a recruit 




The Red Guidon 



Page 133 



at Ft. Benjamin Harrison. The second day I was there 
they took us out for monkey-drill and Corporal Wilbur 
Dunn tried to teach me how to ride a horse'" 

"I remember that. " Short>' howled, "he told you 
you didn't sit in the saddle right. Lord, but that was 
funny'" 

"And the queerest thinf:;," Dick went on, "was the 
time the old batter\ outlaw "22" threw me off at Camp 
Sheridan, He bueke^l me and the sad^lle off at the same 



time and the cinch ne\er came loose — it was the quarter 
strap that broke." 

He got up and threw away his cigaret. 

"Well, what was the best thing'' 'I'ou haven't told 
us that yet." 

"The best thing. Old Son, that ever happened for 
Richard, was the battery's move to Camp Sheridan, 
because I met my wife in Montgomery Who's going to 
mess^" 



Curry and Friel -In Milwaukee 



THE best was none too good lor Charles R. Curry and 
John R. Friel, when they stepped out, and take it 
from us, "Bo, " Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like one of them. 

While the battery was at Fort Sheri^lan, III., "George" 
and John took a run oxer to a certain city made famous 
by its amber lluid. Late in the e\ening after ha\ ing 
seen the city, inspected the water works, etc , they re- 
tired to the Wisconsin Hotel to speni:! the night They 
were shown up to a handsomely appointed room. 

"Bath in there. Sir," said the bellhop, pointing to a 
door. A liberal tip ai"n:l he was gone I hen (\irry and 
Friel sat down to \ lew their surroundings. 

"Some joint, eh. Ralph'' " 

"^'ea. Boy." answered Curry. "Look at the buttons 
over there, let's call the porter an^l order some ice water 
or something. " 

Jack pushed a button. Brrrr, Bz:zr. lizzzz, and a 
half a second later the fans were going full blast. "Friel, 
it's cold enough without them, turn them off. " 

"Gee, I forgot which button it was." 



"l^ush any of them, push 'em all. " 

And Jack did. A second later and there came a 
rap on the door. Ralph opened the door. "Did you 
ring for the maid, sir''" asked the demure young woman. 

"No'" growled Ralph. A minute later and the mana- 
ger, house detective, doctor, porter, and bellboy arrived, 
e\idently expecting murkier 

"Turn those fans off anel bring us a drink," was the 
boys greeting. 

/\n hour later things had calmed down and they were 
ready to go to bed "Holy mackerel. Ralph, do we have 
to undress and crawl in between those cold sheets^" 

'Guess so. Jack, unless you're going to sleep full pack," 

Early the next morning. Ralph was awakened by 
smothered curses. Glancing out of bed he saw Friel 
bending over the drinking fountain in the corner. 

"What are you doing. Jack, " asked Curry. 
Doing ^ Why 1 m getting a wash — Simple — and 
sa\', ain't it awful that a swell hotel like this hasn't got 
hot water^ " 



Exner Washes the Tables 



THE last pan banged into place. The last stick of wood 
was choppe^l. The mapleine for the I'rench toast 
in the morning was set on the table and the K. P. 
were read>' to depart. It was in Camp Pershing, Tex. 

"Washed the table yet. Exner'" yelled Cook Mc- 
Keever. "No'" said f-red Lxner, "I'm in a htirry — 
going to town tonight." 

"Well, wipe that table before \oli go. " 

"All right," came back the sour reph'. "Where's the 
tub of water' " 

"Look lor It, " said McKee\er. 

Exner grabbed a rag. set a tub on the table, and 
went to work. Swish, swash, for about (wc minutes and 



ROSS Kalahcr stepped out of the 1st sergeant's office 
with his pay one night. It had been a bad month 
for Ross and his small obligations were numerous. 



the job was finished. Back into the tub went the rag 
and Exner was on his way down the battery street. 

Early the next morning \ lci\ee\er was on the job 
making f-rench toast, smiling as he thought how much 
the boys wotild enjoy the toast and syrup. Reveille 
soLinded. I he K. P. arrived and soon the battery. 

"Mac set the toast out and went for the mapleine. 
Glancing at it he spied a foreign lxxl\- in the ttib. Reach- 
ing in he pulled out a rag 

'"How did that get there''" he howled angrily. 

"Why — why, that's the stuff I washed the tables 
with last night!" replied Exner, and then beat it. 



All at once he stepped away from the pay line and 
shouted to the boys. "E\"erybody I owe money to step 
forward, — Battery halt." 



Page ISA 



The Red Guidon 



"They Won't Kick" 



IF Camp Perry had been in any other State than Ohio 
while B Battery wallowed around in the mud up 
'■here in 1Q17 the boys would have called down the curse 
of Heaven on the place. There was never, not e\en in 
Northern France where it rained all the time, as much 
mud as the boys lived in for those two months at Camp 
Perry. 

The picketlines where the Battery went every day to 
groom and exercise the horses were a mess. The recruits 
used to write home and tell the folks they had joined the 
wrong branch of the ser\ice when they got into the 
artillery. 



Bill Novis, Myron Craver, Tom Michael and some of 
the other boys who joined the Battery at Perry will re- 
member for all time the way the old border non-coms 
stood around and told them to forget the mud and 
commence grooming the horses. 

"Go on in, they won't kick you," the non-coms used 
to say, and the recruits went in and came out with a 
bang-in the mud. The horses ne\er kicked anybody 
real hard at Perry for the reason they couldn't clear the 
mud with any satisfaction. 

The Camp Perry recruits without a doubt had the 
most difficult first experience w ith Battery horses. 



First Firing in South 



WHO, in B Battery, will e\er forget the first day the 
Battery fired at Camp Sheridan, Ala. The order 
"action front" was given, the guns went into position 
and the limbers were taken to the right rear Hank at a 
fast trot. They lined up as in battle formation, e\ery 
driver dismounted and "standing by ' his team. An air 
of expectancy was noticeable, both men and horses 
were rigidly awaiting the first shot. 

A puff of smoke from the 1st section — a deafening 
roar sent echoes rumbling for miles around. The men 
stood by the guns but the horses didn't, pandemonium 
broke loose at the limbers. The sections, to a horse, 
plunged, many wrenched themsehes loose from their 
dri\ers and started at a dead gallop dow n the field toward 
the path of the gun fire. 

The 5th section, entirely composed of "blacks " started 
the circus, "Doc" Doherty, wheel dri\er, developed a 
case of cramps in the legs and stood rooted to the ground 
while his team tore up the southern sod in a straight- 



away. 1 he 1st section horses with "Hans" Jackson 
dri\ing lead. Bill Summers swing and "\'ic " Guinther, 
wheel, followed suit, plunging furiousK' ^lown past the 
other sections further frightening the already terrified 
horses. 

The 2nd section, with "picket line" Sheets, "Hal" 
Crossman and John Michael at "up, " hit the trail of the 
first section No dri\er was mounted but all were hang- 
ing to stirrups, back straps, bridles or whate\er they 
grabbed first. 

The feature of the runawa\\ was the spectacle of the 
six black horses of the Hh section, riderless, tearing across 
the field, w-ith heads high and manes flowing in the wind, 
lead by "Midnight," Sergeant R. G. Moore's horse. 

Chaos w as converted into order by the cool-headiness 
of "Top" Mike Green. The runaways were caught, 
harness patched up and with the exception of '"Mike"' 
Slates who sustained a slight injurv' in the head, the dam- 
age was slight. 



"Whoa Boy'' 



SOME of the men of the Battery that left Akron in 
191b were horsemen and some others had ne\er dri\en 
a horse and d\d not know the first thing about taking care 
of one. Pearl Wood used to worry more about the nags 
the Battery owned at Camp Willis than any other soldier. 
He was sleeping in his tent one night when John Wise 
coming through the guard lines into camp at a late hour. 



fell o\er him and knocked him out of his bunk The jar 
half awakened Wood and he began grabbing for the strings 
on his blanket, ""Whoa boy, whoa boy, steady, he 
said, .\nd he began to pat the frightened Wise on the 
shin. "Woody " had been dreaming and thought he 
was untler his horse and was about to be kicked. 



Do you remember Bob Newman's chin-strap!' 



Do you remember .Art baulkner's furlough uniform" 



'/7?r Hfd Guidon 



Page 135 



Psvcholosical Examinations 



THE psychological examination held at the Coliseum 
at Camp Sheridan. Ala., hit B Battery on May 20. 
I'^IZ. The men had heard it rumored, hut when the or- 
der came down to fall in to march to the Coliseum to 
take it. it came as somewhat of a surprise. 

This examination was the suhject of much humorous 
comment on the part of the Battery hut when the fellows 
found themselves inside the huge hall with a hunch of 
papers in one hand, a pencil in the other and an elderly 
dignified captain on the platform impressing them with 
the importance of the task, the humor of the thing rather 
faded away. 

The exam, looked simple, as the fellows said after- 
wards hut at the time "psychologically speaking." it was 
no joke. Four large sheets of paper co\ered w ith circles, 
triangles, lines, rectangles, sentences, correct and in- 
correct, simple arithmetical problems, similar and dis- 
similar words, words of like and unlike meaning, composed 
the test. The whole examination was a test tor quick and 
accurate thinking. 

The captain con^kicting the altair explained the way 
it was to be done and then proceeded to put B Battery 
through. "Attention' Pencils up in the air — on the first 
page, Test No. l.you will see six circles numbered from 
one to six respectiveh' Draw a continuous line, begin- 
ning with one o\'er two under three o\'er four through 
fi\e and under six, get bus>'. don't cheat, sharpen your 
pencils — begin. (.At the expiration of a few seconds.) 
Attention. Pencils in the air." B Batterx- was off in a 
cloud of dust "Now on the next page you will see a 
square, a triangle and a circle, place an x in the square 
and the circle, a B in the circle anci triangle, a C in 
the square and triangle, a D in the triangle and square — 



begin -time up' Now- turn to the steenth page where 
you will lind, etc., etc." 

Thus did the show go on, the fellows sweating, swear- 
ing, scratching their heads, chewing their pencils and 
damning, under their breath, the captain, the examination, 
the circles and the whole works. 

"Now." continued the captain, "on page lour you 
will find a list of questions, ^'ou ha\'e three minutes to 
answer them — begin." Heads ducked and pencils flew 
across the papers. "How many legs has a zulu'" it 
read. "One hundred" rapidh- wrote jean Wolcott. 
"What is It that makes a noise like an engine, yet it is 
not an engine' ' "Art Possehl asleep" hurriedly wrote 
Walter Vaughn. "What are the makin's of a nation ■" 
continucLl the quiz. "K. C. cigarettes." Reed ^'orkey 
murmured and wrote with sweat standing on his tore- 
head. "Who was Falstaff?" "President of the Hoster 
Brewing Company," wrote Willard Swain in all sincerity. 
"Was Queen Elizabeth married'" "That page was torn 
out of m\ history," "Skeets" Werner recorded. "Is Mars 
close to Jupiter and if so hoW'" "Don't know, this is 
the farthest South We been." scrawled Edward Jacobs. 

"Time up — pencils in the air. " 

linalK after an hour of grim, silent "quick-think 
writing the men were dismissed and came pouring out of 
the Coliseum wiping the sweat from their eyes and vow- 
ing to go .A. W. O. if they had to go through another. 
The Battery marched back to camp where the different 
questions were cussec^ and discussed one by one. 
"If I get twent\' on the bloomin' thing. I'm lucky, " and 
"If I get fifty I'll fall dead" were common expressions. 
Howe\er when the grades came down it was found that 
B Battery ranked with the best. Jimmie Jameson leading 
with a grade of 370 points out of a possible 412. 



Joe the Minister 



A(X.(.)RD1NG to "HoK Joe ' .Atkinson chaplain of 
the 1 Uth Field Artillery. Battery B soldiers were 
ne\ er \ery steady churchmen in the armw 

Louis Isenman and Art Possehl were the onK two 
customers Chaplain .Atkinson couki rely upon to represent 
B Batter\- in the Sun^lax' morning services Ihe Battery 
Lised to fiom time to time line up in the Batter\ street at 
church call and march o\er tu the 'l', M (' ,\ where 
services were held It was a rule in the army that the 
chaplain cotild ha\e the men marched o\er to the building 
but could not ha\e them marched into the serxice. 



C^.hurch ser\ ice was one thing in the army on which the 
boys coLikl use their own judgment, and in ninel\-eight 
percent of the cases the judgment of the bo\s tokl them 
to stay in bed Sunday mornings. 

"Holy Joe " howe\er could always depend on Isenman 
and Possehl. He w-otild look over his flock and it he saw 
the pious faces of the two Batterymen he would start the 
hymns. .Al Borden and Rolland Herbert started to 
church one morning at Camp Sheridan but on the way 
o\er they heard the service lasted a half hour so they 
Llecided to go back and get in a half hour's more pinochle. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 131 



B Battery's Pets 



IT was always characteristic of B Battery to ha\-e a pet * 
They varied at times from an antelope to a common 
trench rat. htit they answered the definition ot pet. 

On the trip to Texas the hoys found and lost their 
first pet. a beautiful white dog who was w ith them three 
days on the cross-country journey. 

After vainly trying to tame lizards, tarantulas an^l 
scorpions to be pets, for after awhile their entrance to 
border life, the Batterymen became discouraged and 
turned their attention elsewhere to find a mascot. 

About this time there was one of the usual street 
carni\als in the city of El Paso and it recei\ed its share 
of patronage from B Battery. It was at this affair that 
the boys finally landed a mascot. Don Scott and Howard 
Treat, returning from El Paso one night, proudly presented 
the bo>s with a i:luck It is of little importance that the 
fellows spent se\eral dollars trying to win the bird by 
ringing a cane. The big thing was — B Battery had a 
mascot. 

The "canvas-back" was christened "Akron" because, 
Al Borden .said, he had a rubber stomach. "Akron" was 
kept tied to Scotty's tent until the 'i'slcta (three day) 
hike, when the boys thotight that the pet must go with 
them to receive the proper attention. Many o( the 
Batterymen can tell the finish of the stor\'. How the 
ration wagon failed to keep up with the battalion one 

night and how hungry e\-eryone was. So htingry 

It was said at that time that C Battery had duck for 
supper. 

ProbabK the most unique pet the Battery e\er had. 
came the time f^reddy Seiberling struck a bargain with 
a "greaser" for a real antelope This gracclul little 
animal was with the Battery until they reachcLl bt. 
Sheridan, w here Ereddy sent it home. 

At Camp Perry, of course, no animal could have 
li\ed under the conditions. sa\e possibly poor ".Akron" 
the duck. The boys v.'ere still intent on ha\ mg a mascot 
howe\er. So intent were they that during the trip from 
Camp Perry to l"t. Benj. Harrison, Clyde Cje\eling stole 
a young pig ror that purpose No one but Cre\'cling 
will e\er tell what became of that animal though, lor a 
certain farmer in northern (^hi(.) woukl still like to know 
At IT. Benj. Harrison there was "Bill" the English 
bull terrier. Where he came from, no one seems to know, 
but it was rumored that Warren Scott an^l .Martin Cjlas- 
gow were seen alighting from an Indianapolis taxi one 
night with something white between them. 1 hereafter 
"Bill" was the Battery mascot tintil the outfit left lor 
Alabama. At that time some one boxed "Bill" tip and 
sent him to Akron, so he is probably killing cats in 
some Akron neighborhood today. 



Every organization in Camp Sheridan had a mascot 
of some sort and B Battery was there. There was no 
trouble experienced in finding a pet in this camp for there 
were animals of all sorts running around looking for 
homes with the soldiers. Everything from piccaninnies 
to cats, and the 134th bicld .Artillery had one of each. 
\i Battery confined their attention to dogs most of the 
time ha\-ing on different occasions. probabK' a dozen 
different species of canine 

"I-urlough" the little puppy that Stambaugh brought 
into camp, was so called because he never came when 
wanted. He was a nice little pet until he committed a 
terrible breach of "tent etiquette" one night. He left 
the Battery in disgrace and until Thanksgiving day 
there was no mascot. 

With the carloads of boxes that arrived at that time, 
came a crate containing a large Plymouth Rock rooster 
for George Harris. The bird was unpacked and tied to 
the forage shed, where oats and corn abounded. In the 
midst of plenty the rooster was not contented though and 
he tokl the world about it with his crowing. This early 
morning racket he created earned him the name of 
"Reveille." Jack Heimel insisted that "Reveille" was 
lonesome and sympathized with him so much that he 
procured a mate for him one dark night. 

L'nder the constant attention of Stable Sergeant Joe 
Kelh . the birds soon became tame and couldn't be forced 
to leave B Battery's stables. They could always be found 
somewhere nearby and could be approached by almost 
anyone in the outfit. Through her habit of laying an 
egg and publishing the news at five o'clock every evening, 
the lady bird gained the name of "Retreat." One could 
often find "Retreat" perched on the back of one of the 
horses, cackling, while "Reveille" stood guard below. 
What happened to "Re\eille" and "Retreat"^ Ask Kelly 
he knows. 

And we hope that "Rexeille" was as tough as he looked. 
In Erance there was little time to take care of any pets 
or mascots although the Batterymen did, from time to 
time, ha\e a dog or eat around trying to cultivate an 
English speaking friendship with them. It was rather 
a disappointment to the boys to find that e\ en the animals 
were I'rench, One could stand the people's not "comprez- 
ing " but when the dogs would ignore one s calls the matter 
became more serious. 

Of course, the best pets the Battery e\er had and the 
ones that the\ will remember the longest were those 
fine horses at Camp Sheridan. Dixie^Jimmie — Mollie — 
Jake- Why. one might name the entire one hundred 
fifty-eight horses lor they were each one somebody's pet. 
So really the others were only side issues and it was B 
Battery's horses who were the most favored pets. 



Page 138 



The Red (iiiidon 



Dixie 



THE greatest horse that ever fell in for drill in B Battery 
was "Dixie" the bay mount the Battery drew from 
the Remount station on the Mexican border, "Dixie" was 
picked out of the Battery horses by the border stable 
sergeant Lylc McCormick who tied the horse in another 
Battery for three days so that none of the Battery officers 
would see "Dixie" and pick him for their mount. 

The horse was always a good looker. McCormick 
spent more time on "Dixie's" toilet and makeup than he 
did on the stables themsehes. 

The next man to ride "Dixie" was Abbott Kneff, 
who succeeded Lyle McCormick on the stable job. 



Then when Bill Leahy became a "looie" at Fort Ben 
Harrison he rode "Dixie." It was at Camp Sheridan, 
Ala . that "Dixie" reached the height of his glory. There 
Dick La\ery took hold of him for Lieutenant Leahy and 
made impro\ements in the horse's gait, appearance, etc., 
until "Dixie" was the talk of the brigade. Bill Leahy 
used to go out on "Dixie looking and feeling like King 
Alphonso. 

t hen one da\' the animals were taken to the Remount 
station at Sheridan an^l B Battcr\' went to L ranee. And 
that was the last an\bod\- e\er heard of "Dixie." 



Tub's Pack 



CL"\'DE Lamiell may forget t>ther abuses heaped upon 
him in the army but he will probably always re- 
member with bitterness the day Colonel Bush used him as 
a moclel to demonstrate the new cannoneers' pack that 
was introduced to B Battery down in Camp Sheridan 



^^ 




1 ub was called up from his quarters one morning an<.l 
made to strip to the waist 1 he "object of the game " 
was to strap one ot the packs on his back and see how 



long he could carry it w ithout grow ing fatigued Anothei 
thing, the colonel wanted to see where the straps of the 
pack ctit into the flesh most. That was why the subject 
was made to strip 

I he pack w eighed between thirty and forty pounds 
an^l 7 ub carried it all ciay w hile the boys from the Battery 
came up to see it and make inspections They were all 
to get one ol the new packs and it was the i^lea of the C. C. 
to show the men what would happen to them if the pack 
^lid not nde properly. Tub was all in early in the after- 
noon. By four o'clock he was stone dead. He stood 
like a crumbling statLie while the boys tested the straps 
and snapped them against his ribs. 

When the show was o\er Lamiell resoKed he would 
throw awa\ most of his equipment and carr\ the rest 
under his arm. 



"Hairless H " 



BILL KelK's Mexican "Hairless" dog ""Roger" was the 
next Battery pet He was onh' "Hairless" for a mat- 
ter of days -then he startc^l to grow black fuzz and Bill 
found that he had only been sha\ed for commerical 
purposes. .\e\ ertheless ""Roger" was a cute little devil, 
and was the prime favorite until one of the horses in- 
advertantly stepped on his face. Exit "Roger,"" la mort 
pour la patric. .About this time Louis Isenman came 
along w ith ""Chiquita " a genuine Chihuahua bit ol clogdom 
weighing about half a pound. ""Chiquita '" was with the 
Batterv ^luring its entire career and never got too big to 
go into a blouse pocket. 



Do you remember the Ohio camp car for bt. Ben? 



The Red Guidon 



Page 1H9 



"For Two Dollars' 




rf I 1 Pom MiMwres- 



Fwe. I-l/NUTtS 




TA'^'LOR Haller. jimmy Bennett and Stewart Hoben- 
sack were walking through a field near Camp Sheridan. 
Ala., one eiay and Taylor Haller was wishing he had two 
dollars to take care of expenses in Montgomery that night. 

"See that pig over there in the field," Hohensack 
saiel If \OLi catch that pig and hold him down for fi\-c 
minutes 111 lend you two dollars. 

Haller took Hohensack up in a minute and alter a 
wild chase dropped on the pig who had become winded. 
[ iolding the pork dow n was easy for the pig and its captor 
were both too tireel to get up. So "Hobby" had to come 
across. 



Now He Buys It 



'T~'HE battery's tobacco chewing champion in France was 
old Alfred "Judge" Mason of Tennessee. The judge 
was Uncle Sam's best plug tobacco customer. .A few of 
the boys who thought they could chew tobacco tried to 
take the title from Mason, but nc\er succeeded. 

The judge used to tell the boys how he learned to 
chew, when he was a little fellow at home. 'My big 



brothers useel to gi\e me chew ing to get me to do fa\ors 
for them " 

judge Mason's best record for tobacco consumption 
was inaele just after the battery left Camp De Souge, in 
f-"rance. He left De Souge with 20 boxes of Piper Heid- 
sick and six bars of Horseshoe. Two weeks later he was 
"out " and was bothering the supply sergeant for the 
cook's tobacco ration. 



Hard Guys 



ONE of the things that used to surprise the l.ioys (.)! the 
Battery while the Battery was on the line m iM'anee 
was the indifference of the average soldier to the dangers 
of war on the front 

The Battery pulled into the line one night abo\e 
Landremont near the Moselle ri\er. I he officers had 
taken great precautions to get the Hatter\ m without 
observation No lights were allowed, the tracks maele 
in the road b\ the gun carriages had been eo\ cred, i he 
positions and dtigouts were ordered left exacth as the\ 



hael been founei and e\er\thing was done to impress the 
boys w ith the fact that the\- were on the battle line and 
within eas\' gtm range ol britn 

But the men failcLl to catch the significance of the 
occasion 1 he first question jimmy Bennett asked as 
day broke that morning was. "Where's the nearest town, 
and can >ou get something to eaf" And Edward Mc- 
Collum added. "Is there anything ^loing o\er in that 
\illage across the rixer^ " 



Christmas at Sheridan 



WITH few exceptions the boys who spent the ("hrist- 
mas of 1^17 at Camp Sheridan. .Ala . remember 
the day as a rather disappointing one Disappointing 
on account of the blowing up of the furlough story Re- 
member c\'eryone was to be gi\cn a furlough that 
Christmas but the\' ^lidn't get them. 

Among the few exceptions in Battery B were William 
Bowen. William Hoffman. John Hiemel. Elbert Cox 
!red Exner. Homer Eckert and Ralph Reddington. 



That w hole gang marched out of the street one afternoon 
a few da>s before Christmas and their furloughs read, 
_ is hereby granted lea\e to be 
marncel. " or something like that. 

The boN's had been policing themsehes up for more 
than a week before and their departure for Ohio that day 
was w itnessed by more than a hundred homesick Battery 
soldiers The intended benedicts were a happy expectant 
and rather ner\ous lot as they pulled away that day. 



Page liO 



The lied Guidon 



B Battery's Worst Trip 



A T the time it was made, the trip from Camp Sheridan 
-^ *- to Camp Upton, in passenger coaches, was consid- 
ered one of the hardships of the war. 

It was, no doubt a hardship, coming as it did, after 
expectations of a trip in Pullmans as the trip from Fort 
Ben Harrison to Camp Sheridan was made But, in 
view of subsequent trips made "a la cheveaux," in those 
never to be forgotten "40 Hommes et 8 Che\eaux" cars of 
France. It was a wonderful pleasure trip. 

It wasn't the most comfortable mode of travel to be 
sure, as "Casey" Price, Archie Murphy and some others, 
who landed in Camp Upton with stiff necks and "Charley- 
horses," will attest, but think of France. 

During the days (three of them) the trip was a \'ery 



pleasant one The Red Cross ladies at Athens, Ga., 
Raleigh, N. C, Richmond. Va., and numerous other 
places, along the line, of which North Philadelphia was 
not the least, made the trip as pleasant as candy, cigarettes 
and cakes are possible to do so. 

It was one of the most noteworthy trips the Battery 
c\er made and although sleeping was a little difficult, it 
being so crowded, the anticipation of another day of 
attention from the people along the line made the nights 
bearable. 

This trip, the first leg of the journey to F-'rance was 
completed at the very objectionable hour of one A. M., 
at which time the Battery had to unload and rush for 
billets. 



Roger 



TN nearly every camp where B Battery soldiered the 
■^ boys owned pets. Sometimes it was a chicken and again 
it was a dog. The border Battery fed and mothered a 
dozen stray dogs during its stay in Texas. One of the 
border pets that was a big fa\orite was "Roger." Bill 
Kelly's "Mexican hairless" dog that wasn't hairless, Ihat 
dog was one of those cute little puppies that would play 
with anybody who had something for it to eat. 

Back in Akron Louis Isenman brought around a duck 
which the Battery soldiers adopted as a pet. The duck 
was a smart bird and got so it could understand the name 
"Louis. 

Don Scott brought home a duck from a carni\al 



in El Paso one time That duck waddled around the 
Battery camp, the pet of the boys until some Battery 
sniper got him 

George Harris brought a big Plymouth Rock rooster 
into camp one day at Camp Sheridan and tied the bird 
to the stables until Fred Exner went out and policed up 
a little brown hen for him. Then the boys tied up the 
hen for a few days and the rooster stayed around. 

Two old dogs that used to eat mess at B Battery were 
"Furlough " and "Reveille. " The "Furlough" dog was 
so named because of his habit of going on furlough every 
two or three days, coming back only when he got hungry. 

A dog always found a good home in B Battery camps. 



Archie's Joke 



A RCHIE Murphy and a half dorcn other of the Bat- 
tery soldiers were shoveling dirt one day in .Alabama 
ani.1 the bo\s were talking about their travels before thc\ 
joined the arm\-, Archie at the time was reputed to 
be the Battery's most traveled man. According to Mur- 
ph\' there was not a eit\' in .America he had not seen 



[■^ut C. I . Sharp was arguing he had seen just as much 
of the good old L'. S, A as anyone. And he told Archie 
that he had been in .American cities that .Archie didn't 
know existed. 

"Bo\'.' said Miuphv , alter the insult had sunk in, 
"do you know Ixe been out on a limb farther than you've 
I'leen awav from home.' 




[^ear L'ncle livb — 

Well, I'm on my way to France now at last; that is 
I think 1 am. ^'oii sec we are on a ship, but as I write 
this we are still in the harbor. I daresn't tell you what 
harbor it is for they told us this morning that when we 
got on the ship all our letters would be censored, which 
means that some doggone officer is going to read all my 
letters until 1 get home again. 1 don't care so much 
about what 1 write to you and mother but I'd like to 
sneak a few private lines to Clara — well 1 should say so. 

There are three thousand men on this old tub we're 
on. Maybe I should say twenty-eight hundred men and 
two hundred M. P's. 1 daresn't e\en tell the name of 
the boat and I haven't tried to get any sleep yet and it 
looks like it's going to be \ery hard to find any room. 
'We're way down in the bottom of the ship anc^ it's awful 
hot here. They ga\e us some hammcx'ks to sleep in, 
but I don't know how we're going to do it, ^ ou remember 
Schnake, that big tall fellow in our outfit, and big Bill 
Schmok, Well how are they going to get into one of these 
things that are only about four and a half feet long'' 

Everybody is going to bed now and making so much 
noise that I can't write any more so I guess I'll go too. 
We can't mail any letters now until we get on the other 
side so I guess I'll just keep on writing on this same one 
till we get there an^l then mail it. I'm writing to mother, 
too, but she don't understand this soldier business like 
and old G. A. R. man like you so I don't write so much to 
her. 

June 30 — Well Uncle Bob I'm able to write again 
but for a while I thought that I would ne\er be — well I 
should say so. 1 his is a rotten old boat and 1 don't 
blame anybody for getting sick on it. It goes up and 
down and all the time you think it's going to turn clean 
o\er and you don't care much if it does either. 

We left that harbor that I daresn't tell you the name 
of, about eight o'clock the ne.xt morning and the first 
thing we knew the old Statue of Liberty was out of sight, 
Mike Slates said that she was waving the torch around 
her head and nodding to our ship, but I think that he was 
sick already. Before it was time to eat supper it was 
pretty rough and after the stuff we had for dinner, I 
didn't feel like eating anyhow. I felt like I was drunk. 



ihat IS, the wa\' 1 sLippose a Llrunk man must lee! if it s 
like you say it is. ^ ou know 1 wouldn t get drunk, 
don't you L'ncle^ — well I should say so. 

I went down in the bottom of the ship about eight 
o'clock to try to go to sleep but after 1 got m m\ hammock, 
1 changed my mind, E\en if I had felt all C "• K, 1 couldn't 
have slept there. Sergeant Pat Lynch was making so 
much noise leaning o\er a bucket that nobody could sleep 
at all. They wouldn't let me go up on the deck so I had 
to stay down there. 1 got a bucket and joined the crowd 
cause there was only about four men in the whole place 
that didn't ha\e a bucket in front of them. 

1 wo of our fellow s was lucky today. khey got put 
on a gun-crew on the ship, which means that they won't 
have to li\e wa>' down here where there ain t no air. The 
lucky guys was Tub Lamiell and Art Possehl. They 
sure are lucky guys — well I should say so. 

We've got a lot of ships handy now and they remind me 
of a lot of buzzards, ^'ou know how a buzzard hangs 
around an animal that's dead or w.ounded'' Well, that's 
lUSt what these ships look like to me. They seem to be 
just buzzing around waiting for this old tub to sink, and 
1 think that they are going to be satisfied before the trip 
is o\'er. 

No matter how sick a fellow gets on this old scow 
they make him ha\e a life-boat drill which looks like 
they didn't ha\e much confidence in the thing either. 
They make us wear a big cork belt around us too and it 
don't feel \ery good either Ihey say it s so if a sub hits 
us we can Hoat, but I don't think they are worrying as 
much about the subs as they are about the bottom falling 
out of this raft. 

I didn't eat a blamed thing since the day we left till 
tonight for supper. We had some kind of preser\es 
with orange in them an^l they tasted mighty good I 
ate all I could hold and all the fellows crabbed "Well," 
1 says, "I ain't been here for two days and 1 don't see 
how you guys ha\e got any kick coming." I hen Larry 
Fetch says, "Well, nobody's been here, but Bill Bass and 
Harold Moock and they been eating everything," See 
everybody else had been sick too. Uncle. 

I'm going to write a letter to Clara tonight, but I'm 
not going to give it to no officer to read and then tell the 



Page li2 



The lied Guidon 



fellows about it. They put the lights out at eij^ht o'clock, 
and all I ha\e to see by is a little dim light, that you have 
to get right up close to, but 1 got to write something to 
the little girl too — well I should say so, I'll add some more 
to this tomorrow, maybe, 

July 3 — Well L'ncle, 1 must tell you about the big 
loke they puIIclI on the ship today. Somebody put a 
notice up on the board by the ^', M C, A. room that said, 
that there was going to be a dance on the ship that was 
next to us. It said that this ship was full of Red Cross 
nurses and the\ was gi\'ing a dance, ^'ou had to get a 
pass from your captain it said for they couldn't take 
everybody that wanted to go, just them that the captain 
woulci allow, 

^'ou know mother didn't want me to dance. Uncle, 
but I asked the captain for a pass, just to help the thing 
along, see. Well the boats was to leave our ship at seven 
o'clock to take us o\ er to the other ship and there was a 
lot of guys hanging around at that time, but nothing 
happened. Edward Jacobs went up and aske(.l the 
\' . M C, A, man about the boat anel he laughed at him 
and then we all laughed because we knew that it was a 
joke all the time for they couldn't go from one boat to 
another while they were both mo\ ing, 1 only hope that 
they didn't tell the girls about it for they might of fell 
for it and expected us. Girls fall for that kind of stulf 
easy — well I should say so. 

I've been reading a lot lor the last few da\'s. The 
^'. M. C, A, man has a lot of old magazines that he gi\-es 
out and some books too. I got a book called the "Scarlet 
Letter. ' and it's by Haw,thorne. but we didn't e\er study 
it in school when we studied about him It's all about a 
girl and a preacher and a baby, but he aint like our 
minister at all. That's the reason I didn't write an\- 
more in this letter before. All the fellows are reading 
something if they can find anything to read. 

Tomorrow is the Fourth and we're way out in the 
middle of the ocean and it cfon't look like we was going to 
have any fun at all. 

It's been pretty rough on the ocean today and some 
of the fellows got sick again, but not me. They say 
that we are more than half way there now, and I should 
hope so. I always thought that it only took six days to 
cross the ocean, but we've been on the way six days now, 
and only half way. Well that's v,hat they get for using 



such an old tub to take us on, I'll write some more 
tomorrow night — maybe. 

July 7 — I got hold of another book and a couple of 
magazines Uncle, and I've been reading every night 
instead of writing, but you don't care, 1 know. 

We had a pretty good time on the Fotirth. Every- 
body was up on the deck in the morning and the captain 
of the ship made a speech and the ship doctor too. Then 
our colonel, that the boys call the old "Caribou," made a 
speech and everybody sang when our captain said to. 
We sang a lot of songs and then it was time for dinner. 
They put the American flag up on the ship and everybody 
cheered. This is an English boat and ma>be that's why 
everybody cheered so lotid. It was a good thing that we 
had a holiday on this boat or we wouldn't never got 
anything to eat I guess. We had some pkim pudding 
for tiinner and it tasted real good. 1 can t eat the kind 
of meat these English cooks give us. It's either mutton 
or tripe all the time. I've been living on bread and tea 
and potatoes. 

There is a couple of Englishmen in the crew that work 
in the kitchen, and they ha\'e been selling the fellows 
pies and cakes all the time, 1 just found it out last night, 
and I went down to get some, I had to sneak around the 
ship for about a half an hour before I got past the M. P. 
on guard, I was hungry enough to eat anything for we 
had tripe for supper again, I got back to the galley, 
that's what they call the kitchen on this ship, and no 
wonder, either, but I didn't get any pie or cake. I've 
read about how the old Romans put the thieves in a 
"galley "and started them out to sea. but I didn't know that 
the English were still eloing it, 1 asked this guy for a 
cake and he got it for me and then I asked him how much 
It was, and what do you think he said, LIncle'' f-itty 
cents is all, the big robber. Well. I only had thirt\- cents 
to my name so I couldn't buy it, and I went away hungry. 
Honest Uncle, you can get a dozen cakes like that one at 
Kaase's for fifty cents. I went up on deck and found 
Cliff Schnake, Martin Shere and Russ Lothamer all 
eating pie or cake. I told them that I couldn't get in 
the place to buy any, and they each gave me a bite, so I 
didn't ha\e to go to bed hungry after all. 

The ocean has been just as smooth as Summit Lake 
for the last few days, and nobod\' is sick any more but 
X like Slates and Fish Moore. I saw Corporal \'ern Ritter 




The Red Guidon 



Page /« 



and Hcnr\' Bittinger get up last night and pLit their 
hammocks on the lloor to sleep on, so the\ wouldn t 
swiiT^ so miieh, anel I got up anel eliel the same It eliein t 
hurt m\' hack so much to sleep this \\a\' 

If we don t ha\e an> bad weather and our blamed 
pilot gets sober we ought to lanel in a couple o days. 
The wav we \e been dnlting around out heie m the middle 




of the ocean, 1 elon't think that the guy up at the wheel 
knows where he is going. We ought to be where we re 
going by this time. If they are trying to dodge subs 
like the captain says, I don't see why the\- don't try to 
get to shore as soon as they can instead of hanging around 
out here looking (cir them. 

The fellows on the crew say that if a sub c\er hits 
this old log she's a goner and we won't ha\e much chance 
either. Sergeant Hoffman has all the signal ^letail men 
on the look-out on both sides of the ship, night and da\ 
and the fellows on the gun-crews is watching too, but 
c\'en it the\ do see a sub, 1 elon't see how it's going to 
stop us from being drowned down here in this hole well 
I should say so. 

Well 1 hope we get there soon lor km getting ner\ous, 
and I don't want to get sick again 11 they'd only tell 
us where we're going, it might help li\erybody says 
a dilterent place II 1 ha\e time III write some more 
tomorrow night, 

Jul\- 10— We can see land at last, L'ncle Bob. and it 
sure looks good, Somebody woke me up eaii\- this 
morning and said that they could see land, and 1 went up 
and sure enough there it was. 1 daresn't tell you the 
name ol the land, but we can fool the officers this time 
Uncle for I've got an idea, 'l ou see 1 can tell you that 
this land we saw was your home countr\-. and nohocK 
will know the difference. None of the Cjcrmans that 
they are afraid of petting into the mail w ill know w hether 
you ere Scotch or not We're not going to land in this 
country though, but we're going on to the ne.xt countrv, 
and 1 don't know wh\ either because there ain't any war 
in that countr\. 

We had some excitement on board tcxiay, too. Some of 
the little boats that the\ call a con\oy started to fire then- 
guns at something and e\ervbody thought that it was 



a sub. Fellows stood around the rail ready to lump 
overboard if they had to Some of the officers got real 
excited and crowxled arounel the life-boats and it's a 
good thing that it turned out as it did. for one of them 
was right beside me ready to jump on our raft, and I 
wouldn t ha\e waited on him either fi\ery man for 
himself in a case like that — well 1 should say so. It 
happened that the\' was only firing for practice and there 
wasn't an\ danger at all, but e\en if there wasn't, I 
showed that officer where he could expect to find a raft 
and where not 

On one side of the ship we could see one countr\-, and 
on the other side another I'he countiw on the right 
siele was the one that the_\ alwa\s sa.\- is so beautiful, 
but 1 coukln't see an\ thing pretty about it for there was 
nothing but mountains in sight and not a shamrock at 
all Ross Kalaher and George Harris and the rest of the 
lellows that ha\e relatixes from this country said that 
It mu^t be prettier when nou are closer to it. but 1 don't 
know 

1 here was two big balloons l]\ing o\er our boat all 
Lla\ anel the water was co\ered with ducks. 1 think 
the\- are real. C^ee' I wish \ou had of been here, for 
1 know how \()u like to go duck-htinting ^'ou could of 
gotten plent\ here for the\- seemed to be almost tame. 

It looked awlul prett\ tonight when the sun went 
down ^ ou wouIlI of thought that the ocean was on fire. 
1 here was abotit one thousand ol them little boats they 
call con\o\s around us all da\. but the> left us when we 
came into the harbor. 

We are in the harbor now waiting for the tide to come 
in so we can get to shore It looks aw ful pretty out on the 
water with all the boats lit up and sailing around. We 
won t get to land before noon tomorrow . but as long as 
1 can see land so close I don't care. This is a big city 
we re going to land in, I guess, it's got lots of lights in it 
an\how, just before I started to write this they dropped 
the anchor and it made so much noise that it woke every- 
body up, so 1 elecided to w rite to \ou and finish my letter. 
It s two o'clock and there ain't much use trying to sleep 
an\ more, I'xe got to write another letter to Clara 
tonight so 1 can gi\e it to one of the fellows on the crew 
to take back to the U. S. A. when he goes again. 

1 11 write to you again when we get on land someplace 
and get started to work, We'\e got a lot of work ahead 
ol us, but we're going to do as good a job as you old 
C. A, R. men did before we get back — well I should say so. 

'^'our nephew . 
Ralph. 



Do you remember the wa\'Tay Haller wore his pants? 



* * * * 



Do you remember "Four and lM\e to the trail "'■" 

* * + * 

Do you remember the Camp Sheridan laundry bills? 




nrcENSQDj 



UPON stcppintion H. \I, S.Ncstor. 
B Battery relinquished claim to 
one of their most cherished pri\ileges; 
that ol unrestricted and uncensored 
lettciw riting. Censorship of ail home- 
\\ari,l-b()und mail began as soon as 
the Battcrymen stepped on the 
deck 

( 'n that memorable tiip across the 
Atlantic, the b()\'s, with time hca\'y 
on their hands, began writing huge 
\'olumes about their trip, intending to mail them as soon 
as they landed. Some of those letters were begun while 
the Statue of L^iberty was still in nght and continued 
until the ship docked in l-i\crpool. Lieutenant Lee 
Moore admitted one day that those "books" as he called 
them la\ed around the officers quarters for weeks after- 
wards with the entire staff of Battery officers working 
night and day on them m an effort to delete all objection- 
able matter from them. 

At Cestas, after the Battery got settled. Captain Carl 
Ka\enagh e\en thought ol gi\ing lessons in letter-writing 
to save himself some of the brain racking work of censor- 
ing so much Instead of cutting the letters all to pieces, 
and using the blue pencil on all the objectionable matter, 
he would send his share of letters back to the men to be 
corrected. I he most Irequent offense was the failure of 
the boN's to use the perscribed Llatc line "Somewhere in 
France." 

In answer to some ol those first letters written in 
Lrance and on the ship, there were many questions asked 
regarding the holes and the funny bkie pencil marks on 
the letters recei\ed at home. .\rt Possehl and George 
White recei\ed letters annotincing the receipt at home, 
of envelopes containing only a salutation ani.1 larcwell. 
The balance haci been deleted. 

When the first "blue enxclopes" arrned in camp the 
boys were happy for they thought that they could "get 
by" with more through the Base Censor than through 
the Battery officers. It surely mtist ha\e been a busy 
week at the Base Censor's office then, for the Batterymen 
wrote about things and places that were absolutely not 
to be mentioned and thc\' w rote \okimes too, 

1 here were all sorts of plans de\isecl to beat the censor 
but none of them met with much success. Bill Summers 
figured out a code on the ship, but he forgot that the folks 
at home were not familiar with it, so, they must have 
been rather puzzled when Bill's first letter arrived. 
Instead of names of places, Craig Starn intended to give 
the geographical location of places, and let the folks at 




home figure it out for themsehcs, but 
he lorgot to bring a sextant with 
which to make his readings. 

After the Battery got busy on 
real work the letters assumed more 
reasonable proportions and numbers 
and e\eryone became quite accus- 
tomed to referring \aguely to "Some- 
where in Lrance." 

On reaching the front the desire 
to let the folks at home know the 
location of the Battery, almost got the best of some 
of the boys, and a good bit of the information 
written at that time died an ignoble death at the point 
of a blue pencil. After the affair at St. Genevieve, on 
the occasion ol the Battery's first firing of which more is 
written elsewhere Clyde "Tub " Lamiell, in his eagerness 
to report the engagement to Barberton, Ohio, forgot all 
about the existence of such a thing as censorship. He 
gave names, dates and in fact all the necessary information 
to w rite a history. 

1 hat letter of "Tubs' got as far as the Base Censor, 
where most of it was either cut out or blue penciled. 
Said censor must ha\e been a rather human sort of fellow, 
too, for he exidentb regrcttei.1 the fact that he had 
nothing left to send to the Lamiell home but an envelope. 
So, he added a little note, it is stipposed Just to make the 
envelope worth mailing. It was quite evident that he 
ha^l created some excitement in Barberton, when, about 
three weeks later "Tub" received a cablegram from his 
father. "Omit all military information from letters, " 
the message read. Mr. Censor had no doubt given a 
few instructions in letter-writing. C-lydc even omitted 
letters for the next two weeks. 

At the camp on the hill near Benoitevaux. Camp du 
Chanois. after the "big show' was over and there was 
nothing to conceal, the censorship became less rigid, but 
w as not entircK' liftcLl The literary talents of the Battery 
was not entireh' liftetl 1 he literary talents of the 
Batterymen then came to the front and detailed histories 
of the great war were written, that is, in so far as B Battery 
was concerned. Some were received in the home towns 
of the fellows, but m the most of them there was scjme 
objectionable matter 

When "G. H. O " announced the "L^ael's Letter " elay. 
and suspended all censorship on the letters it was a busy 
day for the mail orderly. He left the Battery office every 
morning under sacks of mail that would have tired out 
one of Reed ^'orkey's wheel horses. Therewas a race 

(Continued on next page) 




SoDveiuRS 




SOUVENIR collecting is more or less a part of every 
one's life and after all it is pleasant to have trink- 
ets or objects around that in after years may conjure up 
memories of an almost forgotten period or place. The 
American soldier is one of the greatest little souvenir col- 
lectors going, and the members of B Battery were typical 
American soldiers. 

The Battery's collection started the first day it struck 
the border when Al Borden, Jimmie Snapp and some 
others filled a Mason jar with horned toads, tarantulas, 
scorpions and kindred animals and insects. This collection 
was soon discarded and its place taken by the topaz stones 
which Fred Clark and Tommy Thompson and the men 
occasionally found. The craze died down until the work 
on the range started at Camp Sheridan when e\'ery 
Saturday and Sunday founLl Bill Butcher, Bill Vaughn, 
Casey Price and Russ Lothamer out there looking for 
shrapnel noses and shell cases. When fotind, these 
articles were carefully polished an^l shippei.1. 

France is where the real souvenir craze hit the Battery, 
and the list of collectors included every man on the roster. 
While the Battery was on the front there weie any 
amount of German fiekl helmets laying around, btit it 
was not until "upres la Guerre" that the boys decided 
they wanted them. I hen they were v\orth "bcaucoup 
francs." 

Jimmie Hogue bought a German dress helmet from 
Walter Vaugh for two hundred fifty francs. Cliff Schnake 
and Earl Da\ idson raffed off a similar helmet selling 
one hundred chances on it at f"i\ e Irancs a chance. George 
Stagg and Harry Foust raffled a l.uger pistol for the 
same amount. TommN' Ihompson an^l Bill Summers 
had German gas masks, but fiill traded his for a "Gott 
Mit Uns" belt buckle. 

Along with German sou\enirs there were also plenty 
of French extraction. As a matter of fact many of the 
supposedly German helmets and "Gott Mit Uns" buckles 



were made in b'rance to be sold to the American soldier 
who was a "fish." 

Then there was the case from the first and last shell 
fired in the four gun sections. Duke ^'ork shipped two 
back to Pennsybania from "over there" and Don Scott 
and Pat Lynch trailed along with one each. The French- 
men decorated several cases which Tub f^amiell. Bob 
Wiener and Louis Moore promptly bought. Some of 
the boys decided they could do hammered brass work as 
well as the "frogs" and the decorated shell cases made by 
Walter Vaughn, Leo bitzpatrick and Bill Lenihan pro\'ed 
them to be right. 

Shell cases were being shipped to the States in stich 
quantities that it was necessary to forbid it or the regi- 
mental post ofiice would ha\e been swamped. 

War sou\ enirs were not the only ones shipped or carried 
home from France. There were all sorts of ribbons, 
laces, powders and perfumes. Dick Thomas, Verne 
Clark, Momer Eckert and Lieutenant Curtin almost got 
a corner of the fancy work of France. 

It seems that all things considered the sage struck it 
right when he said. "Irance is in the war for her life — 
England for an ideal, an^l America for sou\'enirs." 



The Censor 

(Continued from page 144) 

for a few days to see who could write and send, to dad 
the Battery's history in the best time. Earl ^'oungs, 
with a typewriter and all the official records at his desk 
in the Battery office, had his "book" written and on the 
way a few hours after the ban was lifted. 

Before they left France though, the Battery had helped 
to uphold the reputation of the 37th Di\ision in Camp 
Sheridan— the "Letter-Writing" Division. 



Camouflage 



Up at the first position from which the Battery fired 
on the front in France, two of the guns were ordered 
one morning into an open field. There was to be a day's 
firing from the field and Corporal Joe Kelly and a big 
detail were sent out to erect a camouflage screen o\er the 
gun positions. A combination of circumstances restilted 
in the boys putting up a disgraceftil job of camouflage. 
The camoufiage screen looked like a dilapidated carnival 



tent instead of a reproduction of the grassy field beneath 
it. 

And when Sergeant Pat Lynch and his crew moved 
into the position ne.xt morning with their piece. George 
Couchey's first surmise was. "If it wasn't for that camou- 
flage the Germans would probably not know we were 
here." 





VICTOR Cjiiinther sat on the edge of his hunk in 
1- ranee and tried to make the two torn hahes of a 
five franc note fit together. F^inally he ga\e it up in dis- 
gust and threw them in the fire. 

"Do you know what I'm going to do as soon as I get 
home, and get out of this league^" Vic said, "Well. I'll 
just tell you, boy, I'm going to take a five franc note w ith 
me. and as soon as I hit Akron, I'm going to take it to a 
printer friend of mine and have him print up about six 
thousand of them. From the looks of the darn things, 
he can't make a worse job than the French government 
did, and he'll probably make 'em better. It'll cost him 
about four dollars and a half for ink and paper, then I'm 
coming back to brancc with "beaucoup" jack and hand 
them out to these robbers who charged me twenty francs 
for a cigarette-lighter. I'm going to ride all o\er France 
spending "made in U. S, A." francs. 

Vic wasn't alone in his sentiments either, for he was 
echoing the sentiments of the whole Battery, French 
paper money — how the boys used to cuss it! It was 
paper money in every sense of the word, and pretty poor 
paper at that. Reading from left to right, the one hundred 
franc note was the only one of the lot that was worth a 
nickel speaking purely from an artistic standpoint It 
was beautifully lithographed in seventeen colors like a 
Barnum and Bailey circus poster. Next in line was the 
"fifty." That had all the earmarks of a Larkin Company, 
soap wrapper, v.ith the exception of the fact that the 
Larkin Company use a much better grade of paper; the 
twenty and ten franc notes reminded the boys of the 
good old tobacco coupons that the United Cigar Stores 
hand out; and the five — well everybody admitted that 
the five didn't remind them of a darn thing they e\er 
saw before! 

The fi\e franc French note was the nearest thing in 
monetary value to our dollar bill. When last heard of, 
it was worth about ninety cents and going up all the time. 
They didn't stop there however, there were the paper 
franc and half franc notes, and they were the worst of all 
1 hese notes were purely local, a franc note for instance 
issued by the Chamber of Commerce of Nancy was good 
in Nancy only; in Toul its only \'alue lay in the fact that 
they were nice and dry and easy to start fires with. 
Corporal Donald Northrup thoughtlessly left Bordeaux 
with a pocketful of them and like the little poem, "e\ery- 
where that Donald went, the notes were sure to go 
He couldn't spend them; shop-keepers all o\'er France 
shook their heads and said "No Monsieur, Ce papier 
n'est pas bon ici." Until finally Don got mad and used 




them up lighting his pipe with a Iranc an^l nine cents 
e\cr\time he Lised up lilts' centimes 

I he true test ot worth however, came when a game 
of "African billiards" was in progress; and if the designer 
of F'rench paper money could ha\'e been present when a 
crap-game was in progress in B flattery he would ha\'e 
hung his head in shame. For crap is the true test of the 
sterling worth of paper money; on the reputation acquired 
in a hard session of "rolling the bones, " it will stand or 
fall .And where the good old American dollar bill used 
to li\e through the strain of a four hour session and come 
up smiling, a fi\e franc note on the other hand, looked 
like the tail end of a hard winter after ten minutes — in a 
half an hour it resembles nothing so much as the "Wreck 
of the Hesperus," And e\en on a good pay-day game, 
with "beaucoup' francs in sight, from hundred franc 
notes down to fixes, with a few crumpled franc and fifty 
centime notes thrown in to make change — Boy Howdy! 
Four passes without "dragging" and the winner has a 
pile of scrap paper in front of him that looks like the 
floor of the stock exchange after a run of wheat. 

Many and many a night, after a session with the 
"bones " has seen a lone candle flickering against the 
darkness of the billet Close examination showed the 
winner sitting on his bunk w ith a pile of torn scraps in 
Iront of him. laboriously trying to fit pieces together. 
It was wcirsc than the best jig-saw puzzle e\er put to- 
gether, as evidence by his remarks 

"Let's see now Where's the other half of this ten'' 
1 had It here a minute ago, and there's two more parts to 
this twenty somewhere, — wonder where they are^ If I 
e\'er find the pieces to go on these six fi\es, I" II ha\e 
"beaucoup " francs. Here's that ten. Nope, that don't 
fit either. Nope: — Im going to bed." 




COL H. M, BUSH 

He commanded the I 34th l\ A, in 
the .American training camps and in 
I- ranee. 



Do }ou remember "Going to Camp!" in Montgomery? 




MMAl lJbJUi:i 3> 

MB^DESBEVEWS AND HkES 




Tho El Pdso EoviQWs...'tlie Cdmp Sheriddii 
Pdrddes-dnd dl thp hikes we hdvp mdde 
in Aiiiericd...Iiiia]dii(l...d]i(l frdnce... 



Page I'lS 



The l\i'(l (iiiidon 



The Ysleta Hike 



ALONG about the first of \o\ ember rumors eoncern- 
ing a hike out into the mesa took preeecience o\er the 
question of "when do we go home''" Wild tales circulat- 
ed regarding other outfits which had been lost in the des- 
ert, horses and men dying of thirst, and most anything 
that soldiers will pass on. not believing, but telling and 
magnifying in the hope that some pooi- rookie will "fall 
for it." 

The outfit learned se\eral days ahead what was 
going to be pulled off and there was somewhat of a run 
on the canteen for chocolate and other food which was 
absolutely necessary when there are eight hour stretches 
between coffee and dear old "canned Charley." Things 

began to stir early on the morning of .-.-__ and 

after the feeding was done the street began to look as if 
it were being carpeted, but these small sections of carpet 
soon took the form of nice round rolls and became the 
important part of a pack. Mess o\'er. and shortly after 
the outfit tell in in the street w ith whips, spurs. sKle-arms, 
anci lull-pack. Grabbing a couple of nose bags from the 
rack, the dri\'ers soon had their horses off the line and 
tied to wheel. A few minutes more and harness and 
packs were on, pairs hitched in. ^Irixers standing to horse 
and cannoneers and drixers alike getting a last whiff at 
a cigarette before time to mount. 

It came before long, a few "woof- woofs" from some- 
where, then the okl familiar notes of "Drivers and can- 
noneers, prepare to mount — mount'" ani.1 the battalion 
rolled through Lynchville. crossing the railix)ad and the 
drill field, and swinging otit across mesa toward the 
silvery Rio Grande. 

The edge of the mesa was reached before noon and 
section after section rolled down the sharp grade of the 
bluffs — the brakes set and the whecl-dri\ers holding then- 
pairs back in the breeching in trtie style as only wheel 
drivers understand. When the Battalion had all reached 
the slope below, "B" had a little fun by way of trying to 
make that old heathen outlaw work in harness. When 
about half harnessed he pulled his usual stunt of falling 
over backward, but the harness was finally gotten on and 
he was hitched in. iiut that was all. He procccckxl to lie 
down antl remamcLl there. Sand was thrown m his 
mouth, good water was wasted by pouring it in his ears, 
Hollenbeck wore out a perfectly good whip on him, and 
everyone cussed him in good soldierly form, but he 
retired from the encotmter unconqLiere^l and continued 
to be led at the rear of the outfit, probabK- w ith the same 
satisfaction as that of an 1, W, W.. of course continuing 
to eat as much Go\ernment oats and hay as a real 
horse, if not a little more. 

But they went on in the usual st\le of "get there 
anyway," and soon after came onto the hard-surfaced 
road leading to ^'sleta. Meantime there was fun at the 



rear of the outfit -the mirth pro\oking spectacle of 
"Butch" L,imbach riding "Armotir" in the near wheel. 
When "Armour" was hooked to a carriage it looked like 
an elephant hitched to a go-cart, but with "Butch" 
rJLling him — holy mackerel! 

^ sleta was reached rather early ani.1 camp was made 
just across the road from one of the troops of the Ohio 
ca\'alry sqtiadron who were doing their turn at l^order 
patrol duty. The gun park was formcLl an^l picket lines 
stretched, then horses were watered at the tanks across 
the road, the oats were fed. hay kicked in, a reasonable 
amotint of grooming done, and the first day was about 
done. Then came the Ime-up to form the Battery 
street, but the street sudLlenK became crooked when it 
came to pitching tents, by reason ol the e\er-present 
mesqLiite in large, tough bunches. Mess W'as nearly 



*^t,-^~ 




reach' by this time, with .\lcl\ee\er on the |ob, which is 
jtist another wa>' of sa\ ing that we ha^l just abotit the 
best that cotild be gotten 1 hen of course, e\erybody 
startei.1 lor a short walk into the village and proceeded in 
\arious ways, aside Irom the usual procedure in those 
tfiN's, to forget the ^lax' s lal^or 

Bright and earl\ the ne.xt morning, that is, it was 
early, but not honestK' l^right lIuc to the lact that the 
sun was still behintl the hills, things began to stir and soon 
alter in the earl\ gloom coukl be seen horses led to water, 
tents dropping, men grunting t)\er the making of rolls. 
sun^liA clanking ol pans an^l Cf I, cans from the Llirection 
ol the (lekl kitchen and isstiing Irom the dark came stich 
soulkil expressions as "D this san^l cacttis:" "Gimme 
a roll on this;' "Where m fl is that near horse of 
mine:' "Sa\'. who got m\' other nose-bag^" and many 
other enlightening statements about san^l, ornery horses 
and man\" seemmgh- tri\iaf but e\klentl\- \itall\' impor- 
tant subjects. 

E^Lit It all went w Ith snap, and soon breakfast was o\er, 
horses groomed. harnesscLl. packe^l. an^l hitchei.1 in. and 
the second clay's hike began. 

1 he route was in a general north-easterl>' direction 
and led immediately up o\er the bluffs just back of the 



The Red Guidon 



Page 1¥J 



village. The graiile was much longer here than the 
descent of the ciay before although not so steep, and 
made a long hard pull on the horses. 1 he cannoneers 
hiked to lighten up the load and the top was made in 
good shape — wheie l^etore them la\' the long sweep oi 
the mesquite-co\ ered mesa, which manN' miles away 
met the hare slopes of the mountains 

l^n the afternoon of the second day out it looked like 
the battalion was just wandering around on a sort ol 
week-end tour or something ol the nature, but anyway, 
we w ere out lor a hike, and getting lost on the mesa was 
about like taking the wrong fork m the road and 
getting lost somewhere out in the "sticks." 

The line ol march contmucLl east lor what pro\"ed to 
be too long a time on a rather unbroken trail, then some 
scouts disappeared into the long roll of the mesa and on 
their report the column swung due north on w hat became 
at once a hard pull through unbroken sand. The outfit 
had taken a bite to eat at one of the rests, and nearly 
e\'cry drner pourcLl water into his hand and let his horses 
wet their mouths. They had their oats. too. and in lieu 
of water had the usual knick-knacks from their dri\ers. 
a handful of scrap tobacco, a lump of stigar. a piece of an 
apple, some cand\ (some of them would eat an\ thing) or 
whate\-er they had learned to e.xpect 

The well was sighted some miles away and soon the 
hardest march of the hike was over. It would not be 
tar wrong to sa\' that "[lixie" was probably the most 
relie\cd of all. "Lahl" (\irginian for Lyle) McC^ormick 
ha^l eoxered his beautilul hide an^l pride with a set of 
harness an^l hooke^l him m to help pull the Battery wagon 
through the hea\ w going. 



The park was soon formed and the performance of 
the night before repeated, with the exception that there 
was no \ illage to visit and the horses did not think much 
ol the alkali water They also needed a lot of grooming, 

1 he happiest feature of the day was that the escort 
wagons took the right road and made camp ahead of the 
outfit Of cotirse mess was ready shortly after in the 
usual MeKee\er style, ol which everyone partook except 
l\a\enagh, whose stomach probably turned traitor 
being the recipient of too much "canned Charley," thereby 
breaking the rules for army stomachs. 

1 he sleeping that night presented a variety of ideas 
on how to get a good night's "flop" on the mesa with the 
wind sweeping in stinging cold Some were under the 
harness and einerecl with paulins, others had paulins 
out m the open and man\' pitched tents with their tails 
to the wind, banking the sides with sand, and covering 
the open end with slickers Many a yuca palm dis- 
appeared in Hamcs and every fire had its bunch getting 
warm, enjoying a peaceftil smoke and fanning about the 
da\ s march. 

The morning came, the usual work was hastily done 
and the outfit was soon on the camp-bound lap of the hike. 
Maiden tried riding the outlaw lor a while and afforded 
a grinning cluersion. Much walking was done to keep 
warm against the chill morning, and at e\'ery rest fired 
ytica palms offered a little re\ i\ mg w armth, .'\bout noon 
Mason's Wells were reached and the whole otitfit "fed 
and watered,' Ihe march was resumed shortly and the 
final drag was soon o\er, camp being reached in the middle 
of the atternoon, and soon could be heard a general 
scraping of chins. The hardest to d\e was probably that 
beautiful, red, hall inch stubble ol Pat l,\nch's, and the 
"1 sleta hike became a relcrence noint. 




r<i<ic i:>i) 



The Red Guidon 



The Greenfield Hike 



THE first officers' traininf; camp at Fort Benjamin 
Harrison closed on August Inh The second was to 
open a month later, so that in the interim B Battery had 
the unrestricted use of its own horses and material. 

lo vary the monoton\' of "double sections right 
oblique," "pieces front," etc . a two day hike was planned 
toward the latter part of August, with Ciieenfielel. Ind , 
(about twenty miles from F-drt Ben) as the elestination 

The Battery was up early on the morning ot .August 
27th. Breakfast was eaten, packs made up, and by 7 M) 
A. M. the entire first battalion was ready to lea\e the 
gun-park. With Major Williams in command, the 
battalion moved out with e\eiyone more or less excited. 
It was the first tiip of its kinel lor the new men, and to 
the border boys it was a relief from the monoton\-. Before 
a bunch of recruits, howe\er, they had to maintain more 
or less of a bored attitude, speak indifferently of the com- 
ing hike and tell of the three ekn hike we took on the 
border. 

The day was cloudy and the Battery had scarceh' 
reacheei the limits of the iort when slickers were un- 
strapped and used. Marshall Sheets, dri\ ing a team in 
the second section, soon found that he had piekeel a bad 
horse for the trip; the animal kicked, buckeel, laid down, 
and in fact, eliel e\er\thing that no self respecting horse 
would think of eloing. He was taken (lut of the team 
before the Battery had gone \ cry far anel replaced by a 
more sensible animal, btit Marshall's troubles were not 
yet o\er, for the new "goat" dcxclopcd a cinch sore and 
he too had to be taken out. 

It rained for the first hour or so of the trip, but by 
ten o'clock the weather had cleared and the rest of the 
day the sun shone. Shortly before noon the main high- 
way between Indianapolis and Columbus was reached, 
and the battalion stopped for an hour: the horses were 
watered and fed and the men had mess. .'At one o'clock 
they were on their way again. Two more accidents 
occurreei before Greenfield was reached; the first, when 
the near horse Jake Harris was driving fell, anel was so 
badly hurt it was necessary to lea\e him in a nearb\ barn. 
Homer Eckert and Skinny Bullard staying to fi.x up his 
cuts and lead him back to camp; second. Morgan Bright's 
team shied at a street-car and ran away, knocking down 
a mail-box and doing suni.lry other damages before it was 
stopped. 

Greenfield was reached about four in the afternoon 
The town's chief claim to distinction lay in the fact that 
it was the birthplace of James Whitcomb Riley anel 
Gunner-Corporal Alton \'. Ritter. As the battalion 
marched through the main street, the men found that 
the hike had risen to the prominence of a parade, at least 
it bore all the aspects of one. The street was packed and 
for two blocks in the main business district it was roped 



off to keep the packed humanity out of the right of way: 
it seemed as if the entire population of Greenfield and 
surrounding \ieinit\ hael turned out en masse. Clear 
out to the fairgrounds, at the edge of the town, where 
camp was to be made for the night the battalion made 
Its wa>' through narrow lanes of people 

The fairgrounds reached, camp was soon made; 
picket-lines were strung, horses unharnessed and cared 
lor, and once again the (.lei pup-tents sprang into being. 
After mess the people of the town presented the boys 
with cigars and cigarettes There were crowds of the 
\'isitors, and the bunch was kept pretty busy answering 
the thousand and one questions that were askeel them. 
In the e\ening e\'er\boel\- went to town, that is. all but 
Corporal Wilbur nunn. Car] 1 rub\ . and Art Faulkner, 
who were unfortunate enough to be on guarcf. anel it is 
supposed that e\en the\- managed to work in relav's and 

get awa>' for 
a time 

In the city 
t h e r e w a s 
plenty of 
amusement , 
as the towns- 
people were 
m o re than 
hosp I t a b 1 e 
anel they lit- 
eralK- pre- 
sented the first battalion with the keys to the city. 
All the clubs kept open house anel the men wearing the 
red hat-cords got pretty much of e\er\thing that they 
wanted. Most of the ofiicers and men attended the 
informal reception and dance gi\en b\' the Masonic 
Lodge in their attraetne club-house It was a great 
success and all those who attended enjoyed themsehes 
immensely. Apropos, the spurs worn by a good many 
of the mounted men proved somewhat troublesome 
during the dance, and to cap the climax, Horace Shaw- 
got tangled up in his and took a spill; they all took them 
oft' after a while and there was no more trouble 

The one man w ho will tineloubtcelK' retain the pleasant- 
est memory of the Greenfield hike and dance is Captain 
). J. Johnston (for it was here he met his future wile). 
Colonel Bush, who hael been to Washington, returned to 
bort Ben while the Liatter\' was at Greenfield He 
motorcel o\er anel reached there in time to attend the 
lesti\ities, bringing se\eral sacks of mail. 

It was well after miel-night before all the bo\s were 
back in their pup-tents; it was eirizzling rain when the 
last few eraw Icel into their tents anel w hen re\ eille suunelcd 
at 4:30 /\. M, it was pouring. It was a tough job to make 
packs and saddle up m the downpour, after breakfast 




The Red Guidon 



Page 151 



prepared by cooks and serx'ed by K. P. It would have 
been very good if it had not been diluted by rain water. 
The start back to camp was made at 7:30. Lieutenant 
Kavenagh, Pop Fetch antl lommx- Thompson tried to 
li\en things up with harmony but it failed to work; to 
add to the discomfort it was colcl and the men. wet and 
shi\ering, huddled up in their saddles or on the materiel. 
Jimm\' Bennett lost his slicker and used his shelter 
half in place of it. There was no delay getting back to 



the Fort, in fact many of the men never left the saddles 
on the return trip. It was a cold, weary and water soaked 
bunch that pulled into Fort Ben about two in the after- 
noon. 

Horses being attended to, everyone made a dive for 
his tent and dry clothes. A warm meal about an hour 
later restored things to normal and from then until now, 
and into the future, the Greenfield hike has, and will 
continue to be an interesting subject for con\'ersation. 



The Parade in Montgomery 



THE end ol the first year of war with L.ierman\' found 
B Battery forming one of the units ol the 37th Di- 
\ ision training at Camp Sheridan. Ala.. April b, IQhS. the 
first anniNcrsary of the war ani.1 the inauguration of the 
Thir^l Liberty Loan was celebrated by a parade of the 




entire 37th m the city of Montgomery. The di\ ision had 
been assembled at Sheridan for several months. The boys 
had all \ isited the city and many people from town had 
been otit to camp. 

The parade held on April b. however, was the first 
time the people of Montgomery had the opportunity of 
\ iewmg the Dixision as a whole .Added to this was the 
tact that the division was soon to leave for overseas. 
The line of march was packed. The town put on holiday 
garb: buildings were hung with flags and bunting and 
everyone turned out to give the Ohio boys a welcome and 
to wish "Ciodspeed ani.! Ciood Luck on their coming 
journey." 

bor days prior, the division was in a throe of cleaning 
up and making readv'. In the Battery the boys cleaned 
and oiIclI harness: materiel was scrubbed and polished. 
Then the process started all over again, a coat of paint 
being applied to the materiel as a finishing touch. The 
horses weie also receiving special care and attention. 
Manes and tails were carefullv' clipped and thev were 
groomed and brushed until thev glistened. The manes 



of one of the teams in the second section had not been 
trimmed properly. The eagle eye of the "'Old Caribou" 
noticed it, so that it was necessary for Sergeant C. T. 
Bowen to trim it on the way to town. 

The boys themselves took as much care with their 
toilet as a matinee idol. They scrubbed themselves 
Lintil It hurt and every hair was careftilly brushed and 
put in place. Shoes shone and uniforms were spotless 
and creased with razorlike edges. 

The Battery pulled out of the gun-park about nine 
A. M. and formed on the field back of the infirmary. 
Straub Jackson's horse became tired of waiting for things 
to start and laid down. With a little effort they got 
him on his feet and Atlee Wise took him. Alas, he was 
no respecter of persons for he pulled the same stunt on 
"At." L'inally Stable Sergeant joe Kelly led him back 
to the stables. 

The first battalion of the 134th Field Artillery was 
the only mounted outfit in the artillery brigade, the 
remainder of the brigade marching on foot. The line 
of march led through camp and into town by way of the 
upper Wetumpka road. 

As the Battery swung around the corner of the 
Exchange Hotel and up Dexter Avenue it presented a 
wonderful sight. The colors were at its head. 1 hey 
were carried by Color Sergeants John R. Friel and Miles 
Rubright. Corporals W. L. Fetch and R. C. Thompson 
were color guards. In the absence of Captain J. J. 
Johnston and Lieutenant Kavenagh who were at the 
F'ort Sill School for Artillery Fire, Lieutenant William E. 
Leahy was in command of the Battery. 

Cameras snapped and all along the line the people 
surged forward for a closer view. L'p Dexter Avenue, 
around the Capitol Building and past the reviewing 
stand went the Battery. The parade was reviewed by 
Major General Chas. G. Treat and Camp Officers, 
Governor Henderson of Alabama, Mav'or Gunter of 
Montgomery and many other men prominent in the 
affairs of the state and city. As the Battery passed the 
reviewing party, every head went up a little higher and 
every man sat up a little straighter, if it were possible for 
them to go any higher or any straighter. 



Page 152 



The lied (hiidon 



The reviewing officials passed, the Battery turned to 
the left around the State House and thence back to camp. 

Apropos this parade was the remark made by Major 
General Treat, the Di\isional Commander to Colonel 
Bush: "I ha\e seen man\- artiller\' units but this bat- 



talion of the I ]4th IS the finest I have ever been priv- 
ileged to see." 

When it is reali:ei.l that Cjeneral 1 reat was himself 
an artillery officer, the true worth of this compliment is 
appreciated. 




The hike to Cestois 




OF all the hikes negotiated by B Battery in I- ranee, 
the one the boys will no doubt remember longest 
was that one from Pessac to Cestas in Southern b ranee. 
There was a hike to be remembered. 

The boys had just piled out of a train of "40 hommes 
8 cheveaux" after a long ride from Ha\rc. Many of 
them had not eaten excepting for a little corned bill an^l 
hard-tack, and none of them had slept more than an 
hour or so the night before. Limbs were stift" and backs 
were sore. 

After the first kilometer on the road to Cestas, it was 
a real effort for the boys to keep their packs and them- 
selves in line. 

Mile after mile of winding French road stretched 
ahead of the Batterymen and there was not a dime's 
worth of water in the w hole column. 

Four-five-six-seven — no one ever found out just how 
far it was but it was close to ten kilometers. Toward 
the end of the last kilo. Lewis "Fish" Moore. Carl Schrank, 
"Jolly" Hull and Martin Shere stopped into a farm house 
for a drink of water and were invited to sit down to a 
little "vin blanc." The rest of the trip to Cestas was 
easy for the four boys. 

The Battery reached Cestas toward evening A 
billeting officer assigned them bunks and the boys went 
dead in the hay until the next afternoon. 

Cestas, France, will always bring fond recollec- 
tions to the men who went overseas with Batter\' B. 
It was at Cestas that the Batterymen received their 
first impressions of the French and of old France. 

Situated in Southern France close to the Spanish 
border, Cestas probably was as typically French as an)' 
other village or city the Batterymen ever saw. There 
was a little sort of a public square or park in the center of 
Cestas. Surrounding this square were the homes of the 
villagers, the mayor's office, the baker, the wineshops, 
and the little grocery where the boys met "Martha. " the 
Belgian refugee who became the friend of all of them. 

The boys were hot and tired the day they rcache^l 
Cestas. It was the peace and quiet of that little village 
that revived their falling spirits that July afternoon. 



1 he nun w ere assigned to l.~iillets. barns, empty store 
builclings and to the little old dance hall that stood in one 
corner of the town. Fven the barns seemed clean and 
whiilesome as compared with jome places the Battery 
soldiers slept in later. 

As soon as the Battery reacheel Cestas that day the 
men threw off their packs, and went alter their toilet 
articles. There was a race for the little creek that flowed 
past the town and an hour later saw the men cleaned up 
and ready to look around. 

The little flat white cement houses, the little church 
where the villagers worshipped, and the v illage graveyard: 
the white roads coiling out among the vineyards and 
through the woods, all were wonderful to the Battery 
boys. In the little sheds along the creek the Battery 
soldiers first saw the f'reneh women beating the dirt out 
of the clothes with a stick, rinsing them in the creek. 

The Battery kitchen was located in the public square. 
1 he town kiLklies were engrossed in its working. At 
first the people were distant. The Americans were 
strange to them. Thev' talked a strange language. Mess 
Sergeant Barkle. Orlund Outland, Harry Slater and others 
around the kitchen had ditficulty making inquiries. 

But the Batterymen were not strangers long. iMrst 
came the children, coaxed by American pennies and 
trinklets. and every man soon had his juvenile following. 

"Andrette," a little French girl, was the pet of the 
billet occupicLl by "\'ic" Guinther, Craig Starn, Percy 
Harris, George White, Dick Thomas and others of the 
signal detail and first and second sections. Little 
"Andrette's " father was in the French arm\ in Greece. 

As the train of little I'^rench box cars pulled into 
Pessac with its load of B Batterymen. it was thought that 
at last one could stretch out and rest In the lirst con- 
clusion one was right — they did stretch out. but they didn't 
rest! For just seven kilometers the boys stretched out 
through sand up to their ankles, expecting at each tiiin 
of the road to be halted and assigned places to camp. 

It was probably very beautiful country they passed 
through, but to the weary Batterymen, after their four 
davs in those box cars, it was a desert. Legs and feet 



The Red Guidon 



Page 1.'>.3 



were sore, backs ached and throats were i.lry. It was a 
hot day and in fact, there wasn't much to he Jolly about 

After co\'ering about half of the Llistance. the B 
Batterymen saw here and there along the load a straggler 
from the battery ahead. It was \ei\' encouraging to 
the fellows to fall out and rest where the\ could ha\e 
company. Until they were within one kilo of their 
destination, though, B Battery didn't lose a man. When 
they did fall out, there was a question in Captain Ka\en- 
agh's mind as to the reason. Not that he didn't expect 
the fellows to be tired, but by some strange coincidence 
they all fell out in front of a wine room. 

Upon arriving in Cestas the boys all dropped their 
packs and fell on them. With shoes full of sand and 
throats parched. the\' were a sorely dejectCLl bunch 
The packs which were unusally hea\y on this occasion 
had cut the backs of many of the boys and not a few were 
suffering from a headache caused by the hot sun. The 
cool shade of the huge maples in the square of Cestas 
soon relie\'ed a large part of the discomfort and e\'eryone 
made for their billets. 

Every morning "Andrette" came to the l^illet with a 
little book. With her book on her lap she painstakingly 
gave the hoys their first brench lessons. She could 
speak English herself. 



Martha, the girl in the grocery store was the Battery's 
friend. .She talked English and in the beginning was the 
only person in the town who knew what the boys meant 
by a "e|Liarter's worth ot cookies.' 

The boys marvelled at the little "\ m blanc " shops 
with their sidewalk chairs and tables. B Battery soldiers 
that wouldn't ha\e gone into a l?ar-room in America by 
the back way sat otit in front of these places in Cestas. 
to be servcLl. i he brench war bread and the chiklren run- 
ning home from the bakers with the elas's ration made the 
boys realize they were in a country at war, Belore the 
Battery left Cestas the men had grown intimate with 
everyone in Cestas from the mayor down. ",'^li|^ ' Long, 
jimmy Jtidge and the rest of the bandsmen plave^l the 
"Star Spanglcel Banner " in Cestas lor the (ir.st time one 
night and the next night they plaved it to the villagers. 
Chiklren. old people and all stood bare-hcadeel. anel the 
Batterymen stood at salute tor the "Marseilles." 

To B Batterx's credit be it san^l that there were tewer 
men Irom that organization than Irom any other, that 
came the same wa\', to be fotind fallen by the waysiLle. 
.After all the hikes, both in the States and in f-rance. the 
hike to C'estas was \oted the "worst e\er " by the B 
Batterymen at Camp Sherman. 



Review at Newport News 



THE last review that B Battery participatcel in belore 
they were mustered out was at Newport News, 
just three days alter thev' lanLkxl m the V S A 

A delegation of Ohio people ha^l journeyed to the 
coast to welcome the boys home anLl lor their benefit a 
review was held at that time. 

On the morning of March 28th the or^ler came down 
to be ready for a review before the C\:)mmanding General 
and a committee of welcoming Ohioans. It was one of 
the most difficult orders that B Battery ever had to comply 
with for they were in no way prepared to be reviewed by 
anyone to say nothing of a partv' of this sort. 

After the trip to tb.e clelouser there wasn't a present- 



al^le unilorm m the entire outfit. .Ml morning the boys 
hustleel aroLinLl the camp m an ettort to make themselves 
look 111 lor inspection 1 he camp lauiiLlr^' v\as put at 
the (.lisposal ol the regiment and by one o'clock all the 
unilorms were again in ori.ler. 

I he re\ lew mg partv' consisted of .'\cting Brigadier 
C^eneial .Abeinathv, Ceneral Glenn and the Ohio party, 
heaeletl by Lieutenant Grj\ ernor Brown. 

I he entire brigade passed in review and lormed in 
front of the re\iewing stand. Speeches were made by 
General Cjlenn an^l Lieutenant Governor Brown, welcom- 
ing the bovs home Irom f-rance. in the behalf of the 
petiple of (Mho, 




P(ige y.ii 



The Red (riiidon 



Replacements 



UNTIL reaching Camp Sheridan. Ala,, B Battery had 
been almost entirely an Akron organization, for 
those not ha\ mg homes there had at least enlisted there 
and knew Akron and Akron people quite well. 

it was with a feeling of half wonder and half ini.lilfer- 
ence that the Batterymen greetCLl the airi\ al of the thiity- 
ninc men from Camp Taylor, I\y., who formed the first 
hunch of replacements for B Battery. Naturally these 
men coming from a diffeient, if adjoining, state seemed to 
he outside the pale of fellowship that existed among the 
Akron men. This state of affairs was not doomed to 
last long though. 

During the period of intensive training under Sergeant 
Hoffman. Corporal Truby. Jackson. Slates, "^ ork and 
Rubright, the I^attcrymen saw the recruits only at meal 
time when they would rush madly at the mess shack. 
Just before leaving for Camp Upton these men were 
turned into the Battery and assigned to sections. By 
the time the train pulled into Camp L'pton e\eryboely 
knew everybody and the new men really belonged to B 
Battery. 

They had stories that were interesting to the Battery- 
men — stories about Camp Taylor and their experience 
there. The methods of the National .Aimy C'.amp were 
new to the Akron fellows and it was with interest that 
they heard of how every man was ec|uipped with a rifle 
and started out as a doughboy, regarelless of his preference. 
'Twas a ease of the sur\ ival of the fittest, they said, and 
only the best men with a rifle were kept as infantrymen. 



When the time came to transfer, however, the boys 
were given their preference as near as possible, but there 
being so many choosing artillery, some had to be dis- 
appointed. 

Before the Battery was mustered otit of the service, 
most of these thirty-nine fellows had pro\en themselves 
some of the best soldiers in it. 

Ihe next replacements came at Milley, France, while 
the firing Battery was on the front. They were a strangely 
assorted crowd, too, coming from e\cry corner of the 
U. S. A. L'nder the conditions at that time it was not 
difficult to become friendly and the strangers soon began 
to feel at home in B Battery. 

With this detachment came some \ery valuable men 
to the outfit There was a barber, Ray Albon, to replace 
"Jolly" Hull who had hurt his hand and left B Battery's 
hair neglected. Then there was Charles Paque, the 
butcher, just the man to replace "Nubbins ' Outland, 
who was too busy cooking to cut meat. Lee Carpenter 
and Rene Cordon filled a long felt \acanc>- in the Battery 
— that of interpreter. After the arrixal of these two men, 
"parly-\'ooing" was made easy. 

Surely when B Battery was mustered out, it was 
200-B Batterymen in e\ery sense of the word who shook 
hands and partCLl. not one hundred and fifty Batterymen 
and fifty replacements as some organizations classify 
themselves. 



Desirable Extra Duty 



' I 'HE idea seems preposterous to any man who was ever 
-1- in the army "desirable extra duty." but ask Freddie 
Clark or Martin Shere. 

After that long, tiresome hike to Cestas, during which 
so man\' fell by the w'a\'side, ("aptain Ka\-enagh handed 
out some extra eluty to those he thought eleserx mg of it. 
There were ten men in all and the\- were gnen alternate 
kitchen police. fi\e each day. for punishment 

On the first day's crew were I-'rcddie Clark, Martin 
Shere. "bish" Moore anel two others. The second day's 
crew came around next morning and breddie was again 
on the job, insisting on remaining, in fact, he wante^l the 
job permanently. Sergeant [darkle allowed this bLit was 
suspicious. 

When Shere and Moore returned to the job the next 
da>' the truth came out and the myster\- cleared. 

In lieu (}f an incinerator to burn the garbage the 
Battery had been giving it to the peasants nearby for 
their pigs and chickens and it had been noticed that Clark 



always insisted on handling the garbage, which was 
considered a \-ery undesirable job under most circum- 
stances. 

When it was time to dispose of the garbage on the 
third day Shere and Moore each started out with a pail 
and Clark put up a mighty howT He insisted that it was 
his job. Again Sergeant Barkle came to his aid and a 
fight was a\'oided. Curiosity led Sergeant Gene to 
follow r~reddie to ascertain the reason for his sudden 
desire to work. 

Into the backyard of one of the little tile-roofed houses 
went Clark An okl peasant woman met him at the door 
and Clark extended the two pails of garbage towards her 
saying in his newly acquired French, "Bon jour, K ladame. " 
"Bon jour. Monsieur, une minute." answered the old 
lady. Returning a moment later she handed breddie a 
bottle of wine, took the pails, emptied them and returned 
them to him. 

(Continued on next page) 



c^v 




MAIL incominL; anel oiitf^oinp,, was al\\a\s an important 
factor in army life. What soldier has not spent some 
lonesome hours, or e\'en days awaiting the arrix'al of the 
maiP In B Battery there were men who wrote and 
recei\ed mail in hunehes and men who neither wrote nor 
recei\-ed a letter from one week to another 

In all the Battery's histor\- it would he a Lliflieult 
matter though to find any one fellow to whom more 
letters and parcels were addressed than W. A (fiilly) 
L.enihan When Bilh- was not reading letters he was 
writing them. It was always an easy matter to find him 
during his early days in the Battery because he would 
in\ariahly be on his bunk writing or rewriting a letter. 

Over in France, where mail rarely arrixcLl more than 
once or twice a week, it was \ery seldom that liilly didn't 
collect Irom twcKe to fifteen letters Of course one 
couldn't do that unless one wrote in answer to them, so 
Billy usualK' ha^l an equal number for the mail orderly to 
take back with him When the fellows wouki lr\- to 
kii.1 him, Billy would tell them that he considered it his 
patriotic duty to write lots of letters. In so doing, he 
claimed, he was helping swell the treasury, "book at the 
amount of re\enue the gcnernment is collecting from the 
stamps used on these answers, " Billy would say, proudh' 
showing a big sheaf of stamped en\elopes "Enough to 
run the war another month. " he would add con\ incingly. 



Lenihan didn t ha\e a "walk-away" with the letter- 
recei\ing honors though, h\- any means. Percy Harris, 
Atlee Wise and Art Possehl aKva\s were closely behind 
the champion, and on se\eral occasions Gene Wolcott 
and Henr\ Bittinger were known to recene e\en more 
than Billy 

Ol the lellows who tliLln't get nuich mail antl i,ln.ln't 
send an\- at all, Lewis "bish" .\loore was without a 
doubt, the leader. To "bish ' mail meant nothing at all, 
and he ne\ er seemed to ha\e the time to write any letters. 
It wasn t because he had no one to write to nor because 
he coLildn't write, for some of the Batterymen knew his 
parents and too many of the fellows could ha\e xouchcLl 
for "bish's " ability to write — 1. O. U'S. after an all-night 
session ol poker. Moore once corresponded with the 
Firestone I ire 6, Rubl-'er Compan\ in regard to some 
stock he had left behin^l when he joined the army. When 
he failed to get an answer to that he ceased writing letters 
altogether. Once in a while there woLild be a paper 
addressed to Pri\ate Lewis Moore from his home town, 
but the Shamokin, (l-'a ) Courier didn t call for an answer. 

When asked why he ^lidn't write home to sort ol 
reassure his relatnes. 'bish ' would come back with 
the counter query, "1 he\ can read the paper cunt thc\^ 
"I told the folks not to worry, said Moore, "until they 
saw Lewis W. Moore in the casualty lists and then - 
well, — then something might ha\e happened to mc. 



Desirable Extra Duty 



(Continued from pase 154) 



One of the most discussed subjects in okl I3attery B 
was extra duty. 1^ Battery's extra dut>- list ne\er 
lead the regiments, but from time t'^ time there were 
a few of the Battery's soklieis markcLl up lor late after- 
noon or e\ening chore work. 

Some of the boys used to say the\- like^l extra dut\ 
better than Battery work. It is doubtful howe\er if 
they meant this, 1 he <inK time that Sergeant Greene 
ever encountered a man who realh wanted extra duty 
was at Cestas, brance, shortly after the I.^atter\' arri\cd 
overseas. 

f-red Clark went on extra duty in the kitchen. He 
finished a week's work an^l then asked for another week. 
He worked a few days and then asked for a third week 
f-red had asked for the most disagreeable work in the 
kitchen, that of carrying away the garbage. 



Sergeant C^reene became suspicious. He told Mess 
Sergeant C^ene [darkle to finLl out wh\- Clark like^l the 
kitchen work so well. So next morning Gene follow clI 
1 iclI an^l two pails of garbage to the back door ol a little 
house on the outskirts of the \ illage. 

One-hall ol the backyari.1 of the house was taken up 
b\ a pig pen an^l the other half b\ a chicken yari.1 1 he 
pigs smiled as I-red walked past with his two pails ol 
garbage and knocked at the door. 

"Bon jour Madame," said C'lark as the lady ot the 
house opened the door, 

"Bon |our, \ kmsieur,' saul the madam. There was 
a moments parley in [■'ennsyb ania Lrench anel the dame 
handed lrei.1 a litre of red wine 

"Merci, .Madame," sa^i Clark 

"Mcrci, .Monsieur.' said the lrench lady. 



Page J.')6 



The Red Guidon 



Bordeaux 



NATURAL,!,^'. In the City of Wines, the wine shops 
were an atti'action that was not o\eiiookeel by 
many. (One. however, that the ^'. M. C. A. failed to 
mention to the hoys.) One eotilcl usually find an Ameri- 
ean speaking Frenchman in the stores of the city so 
"shopping" was not difficult. 

The beautiful parks of the eit\ weie well kept in spite 
of the expense ol the war and the magnificent monuments 
were masterpieces. The boulevards with their lines of 
stately trees and the little streets that came sneaking 
out from between the tall houses were so different from 
the busy streets of America, that they were sights in 
themsehes to the tourist so!c^iers. 

The cathedral of St. Andre, built in the 12th century 
held the boys in awe by its age. The old paintings in 
this cathedral were worth thousands of elollars. 

Many American ships could be seen on the Gironne 
ri\er which connected with the city of Bordeaux with the 



sea. It was a \ery btisy port at that time and the 
camouflaged ships making for the American docks at 
Bassens kept the tugs and lighters plying up and down the 
stream day and night. 

In making the trip to the city from Cestas, it was 
necessary to either walk eight kilometers to the street car 
line, or to hire a taxi of the 1890 model. Most of these 
Batterymen chose the latter for walking was not to their 
taste. Most of these machines were of a type that was 
extinct in America before most of the fellows knew their 
AT5-C's and therefore they too. were curiosities or 
sights. 

During the time spent at Camp de Souge. the men had 
the same opportunity to \ isit Bordeaux, and before B 
Battery left for Northern brancc. it wa.s \ery few of these 
men who had not paid at least one \ isit to the City of 
Wines. 



One Good Sector 



THE firing battery arrived on the line in the Marbache 
sector, and at once the Battery bo\s were pleased 
with the living c|tiarters and surroundings They hael nice 
dugouts, good btinks, there was plenty of mess, no calls 
of any kind to answer — everything was right for a nice 
rest. The sector was a quiet one, and Tommv 1 hompson 
made an observation that echoed the sentiments of the 
entire firing battery. "B Battery will fight it out on 
these lines if it takes all winter." he said. 



'ihe Battery soldiers will never forget the first time 
they were under fire in France. It was a day when there 
wasn't a boasting soklicr m the whole outfit. In the 
scramble for dugouts the first time the boys smelled 
German powder some of them nearh' got hurt. 

Tub Lamiell was one of the late ones getting shelter 
that day and w hen he did get safely under cover he said, _ 
"Boys it's going to take an act of Congress to get me out 
of here. Call mc when Peace is eleclared. " 





WHEN the liike from Cestas to Camp cle Soiigc, 
[■rancc. was ended, piobabK' the longest anel 
weariest hike that B Battery every undertook, it was a 
tired huneh The K)\s were so tired they didn t ha\c 
energy enotigh to get tip and get themsehes a plaee in a 
billet. And the ejiiecrest sight of the whole elay eame 
half an hour alter the battery rcacheel there — a lone 
figure standing by the eorner of the mess-hall — shining 
his shoes' 

Old "Pop" letelV King of Beau Brummcls, an^l 
champion shoe-'-hiner ol the L' S Arm\ ' Stati-^ties 
prove that, il all the arm-power he has spent polishing 
the old hob-nails, could be hitched to a d\namo, it woukl 
keep the cit\- of 5outh Bend. Indiana, electricalK lightcel 
for three years and tour months; the cans of shoe-polish 
he emptied in his aimy career, if placed on top ol one 
another, would make a pile higher than Wadi'ngton's 
monument, and the rags used as shining-cloths if used 
lor surgical dressings woukl ha\e been more than enough 
to suppK the L!ni\ersit>' of Pittsburgh, Base Hospital 
L^nit No. 1 , during the Chateau-Thierry dri\e. 

Sergeant Barry Fetch — one of the handsomest and 
most elebonair men in the outfit, .A spot on his O D, 
trousers ga\e him h\sterics and mui_l on his blouse sent 
him into a howling rage When the outfit left Camp de 
Souge. with orders to get ritl ol e\er\ thing that was not 
absoluteK' necessar\'. his pack held a clothes brush anel 
a can of shoe polish. Lp i)n the front, with ci\iliiation 
left behind. German shells elropping arotinel the battery 



position, and tons and tons of f-rcnch mud around; when 
e\-eryone else was coxercel with it, ate it an^l slept m it. 
Pop Fetch strolled arotind in a clean uniform with his 
lace washed anel shoe-polish on his shoes, 1 hey say 
that, instead of sleeping between barrages, he polished 
his shoes and combed his hair m the middle. Hi>w did 
he manage^ "(^'uien Sabe, okl bo\". as the\- used to say. 

And, to recall the time he went rieling with some 
ladies from Highland Park, when the battery was at Fort 
Sheridan. 111. Boy' he looked like the Duke of Nought 
in the thnvl act of a problem pla\ — an\one who sat in 
the barracks and watcluxl him stroll out that ela\ will 
e\er forget him. Starting Irom the bottom up, it was 
russet shoes and leather leggings, that \(iu could see 
your face in, spotless khaki riding breeches with creases 
"and e\'erything," a blue serge Norfolk coat, belted, a 
white \est, a silk shut, a soft white cullar and flowing 
green tie. lopping off the whole elfeet. a sort of elemi- 
tasse to a sartorial banc|uct. was a checkered black and 
white cap and a riding crop NobiKK' kidelei.1 him that 
day — the whole barracks was stunneel into silence. Words 
were futile' 

L.et it be i->ut on record here, that Irom the time he 
came into the batteiw at Camp Perr\ . Harokl .\Ioock ran 
Fetch a close seconel, 1 here were sexeral times when 
the Beau Brtimmel championship between the two was 
elecielcel only b\- the thickness of shoe polish, the rakish 
tilt of the o\erseas "chapeau" or the neat wrapping of 
the spiral puttees. 



First ''Passes"" in France 



THE first real opportunity afforded B Batterymen to 
\isit a F-^rench city was at Cestas, when passes were is- 
sued lor the city of Bordeaux, At Fe Ha\ re some of the 
officers had \isited the cit\'. but no passes were issued to 
the Battery, It is doubtful if any one cared \ery much 
either for going to the city necessitated the climbing of 
that memorable hill. 

After a two days' rest in Cestas a regimental order 

came permitting the issuing of one day passes to Bordeau.x, 

which was about tvventy-fi\e kilometers from the \illage. 

1 he trip to the city was through a \ery beautiful part 



of the countr\ where the little homes were untouched 
by the devastating hand of Mars. To the newly arrned 
B Batterymen the fact that the countr\ an^f buiklings 
were still beautiful, meant nothing, but ha^l they been 
able to \isit the same country two months later after 
seeing Northern b ranee, the\ wnuld ha\e appreciated 
the artistic worth of the beautilul landscapes. It seemed 
to be one continuous \ ineyarcl from Cestas to Bordeaux, 
each one presenting a new shade of green or purple and 
serving as a wonelcrful backgrounLi for the reel ani.1 white 
houses. 



P(t!ic /.kS' 



The I ted Guidon 



Machine Guns and Gunners 



THE first introduction of tlic macliinc-giin into B Bat- 
tery was as Camp Sheridan, Ala,, where the Lewis 
guns were given to the artillery organizations as anti- 
aircraft weapons. 

Sergeant Moose and si.x men studied this gun and its 
workings thoroughly for li\e weeks and then dropped it 
when the guns were ordered hack to the Ordnance 
Department The knowledge ol the Lewis gun was 
ne\er of use to the Batterymen in L ranee for another 
tvpe was issued there. 

At Camp de Souge. France, the Battery was issued a 
machine-gun of the Hotchkiss type, .A much heavier 
and more durable gun that the Lewis, Two guns were 
issued and two gun-crews formed from men in the caisson 
sections under Corporals Slates and Brewer. In these 
crews many of the newer men proved their efficiency, 
and during the entire course of training at the gunnery 
school B Battery's class were always leading or serving 
as runners-up in a close race. 

On one squad John Downev', Mack Sharp, licl. Krue, 
John Cjall and Jesse Hunter were soon able to take then- 
gun Llown and put it hack together again while hlinLl- 
folded while on the other Paul Jones, Ralph Lissel, 
Llewellyn Clark. Albert Chapman and Sam Bowman 
were setting a pace for the artillery brigade with then- 
firing. Archie Murphv'. George Rood, and George fries 
were extra men, and each of them were experts with the 
"suicide gun ' as thev' called it. 

With such good materiel for Llcfcnse. it is almost a 
shame that B flattery didn t have nee^l of their n-iachine- 
guns on the front but SLich was the case. 

In the first positions the machine-gun crews were 
given a position from which they commanded a view ol 
miles of enemy country. I heir orders were to (ire only 



at one thousanLl n-ieters, but it was a great temptation 
to the boys to fire at some of the Fokkers who went 
sailing over the hill at an altitude of about two miles. 

One man stood guard oyer each of the guns at all 
times and hardly a machine went over the Battery 
position that wasn't sighted over the sights of the B 
Battery machine-guns. 

This sighting proved to be very gooci practice for the 
hoys for w hen they arrived at Camp Quest for a rest after 
the first frtint, and set up a range, every man v\as an 
expert. Ammunition was abundant; all the fellows had 
to do was to go to the nearest salvage dump and pick up 
what thev' wanted, so there was lots of firing and many 
targets mutilated. 

On the trip to the f-'annes sector, the machine-guns 
were ordered Iron-i the caissons to w hich thev were attached 
for traveling. 1 he Battery was on the move when this 
order came down so Corporal Brewer removed them and 
lelt then-) Iv ing in a ditch for the order said there would 
be no turther use for them. These guns were not to be so 
easily lost though for along came old "eagle eye " Poling 
the policing Supply Sergeant an^l gathered up the Hotch- 
kisses and brought them along in his supply wagon. 

After the midnight party that Heinle had at the 
expense of the B Battervmcn, when he kickeci out his 
dash hoard and dumped his load of 'plane eggs ' near the 
gun positions. Poling probably thought that a machine- 
gun might come in handv'. so he sent one up Irom the 
echelon. It was very thoughtful, indeed, but he forgot 
to send a gun crew , Had there been any need of the gun 
the hovs on the 7'' s would ha\e had to knock it apart 
and throw the pieces at the f^oche for it took lots of 
practice to operate the "mitrailleuse" as the f-rench call 
them. 



Mechanics Good "Borrowers' 



HI'.RE'S hoping the next American army that goes 
to war will go ecjuipped with tools, quartermaster 
supplies, lumber and other things the A, E. b, in brance 
didn't have. 

Chief mechanic Earl Hageman. Mark Dreese. Straub, 
Jackson and other Battery soldiers who helped the 
mechanics from time to time will have to answer in 
Heaven for many a shovel and board stolen by them or 
at their instigation in the arn-iy, 

fhe mechanics used to be the "property" men for the 
Battery, It was their duty to get into a new camp early 
and steal evervthing that was loose in the way of lumber, 
tools, small buildings, etc,, and they did this The 



mechanics could convert a sn-iall building into anything 
from picketline posts into coal bins for the mess sergeant. 
Over in brance what the mechanics didn't steal the 
Battery soldiers did. At Camp Souge one day, the boys 
tore down half of one of the stables in order to get boards 
to make repairs on their bunks. The boys dismantled 
an old mill in Northern I ranee for firewood one time. 
They took awav everything hut the stone walls and 
foundation. In both cases the mechanics were ordered 
to replace the missing parts an^l i-nake repairs. Chief 
Hageman had one of the most dangerous jobs in the 
army from one standpoint. 



THE DOAD TOlVEDDUN 




IT is a pretty safe het that, every time the "Do ^'oii 
Remember" ckih f^ets into session in the years to come; 
in the library of the Elk's buiklinij, in winter, or at one 
of the numerous cottages by the lake in summer, the 
meeting will not have been in session more than an hour 
before some hardy A. E. V . veteran will come across with: 

"Say. Were any of you fellows on the horse trip to 
Verdun^" 

There are lots of things to remember 
about the Battery's sojourn in f- ranee, 
but still another safe bet will be that 
that trip will be fresh in the minds of the 
men who took it, after most of their ca- 
reer in [■ ranee is an indistinct and haz\' 
memory. 

It was while the 1 34ih Regiment was 
billeted around Laimont, just after they 
hai:l come up from Camp de Souge in 
the south of b ranee. The l^th Ca\'alry 
had brought in a big string of horses, 
and the afternoon of October ^ri.1, a reg- 
imental detail was picked to go to Re- 
vigny after more. If the\' had been 
distributed, on their return. R Battcr\ 
would ha\e had close to one hundred 
head of horses, counting the ones they 
got from the 1 Hh Cavalry, but they ne\- 
er were. The returning detail, in charge 
of a C Battery officer and stable Sergeant 
Dick La\'ery, were ordered to take the horses to a big 
field north of camp and tie them there. Here it was 
found that these horses were to start tra\eling again 
that night, along w ith the 1 5th Cavalry horses, that 
another regimental detail was to be picked, and that the 
mounts were to be deli\ered "somewhere near Verdun." 

For once in his troublesome career. lop Sergeant 
Mike Green had little or no trouble picking a detail. 
""Verdun" was the magic word that brought out the 
volunteers, and some of the men who were picked to go 
actually ga\e up their chance to (jthers who wanted to 
go very badly, and most of the Battery looked at the 
final twenty men an^l calkxl them lucky, lucky. 

After an early mess at fi\e o'clock, the detail under 
the leadership of Lieutenant Myers and Sergeant "Duke" 
^ork made their way to the stables. Here they began 
to ha\"e a vague presentiment that "all was not well. " 
and that the trip was not exactly going to be a pleasure 
jaunt. First, there were no saddles, they had nothing 



to ride on except a couple of blankets strapped on with a 
surcingle; second, each man hatl to lea^l three horses 
beside the one he was riding, making lour in all : an^l third, 
the horses that hai.i just been brotight in from Re\igny 
were hungr\'. They had apparently not been fed on the 
trip, an^l on account of the scarcit>' of oats, the\ were not 
going to be led before the start. It was e\ ideiit, right off 

_ the jump, that the l^rutes \astl\- preferred 

eating grass than tra\eling all night, 
anti when a horse wants to eat, when 
he IS hungr\'. ani.! <.loes not want to tra\- 
~ ■" el, well, "he is generalK considered 

i^lamn hari.1 to hani,lle, ' as jim Graham 
US0.1 to say. 

liach BatteiA m the regiment fur- 
ni^hcLl about forty heai.1 of horses, sothat. 
when the\ lincLl m the field there wasap- 
proxiniateK two hundrei.1 hea^l for the 
regiment .After a wait of alx>ut an hour. 
the\' were joined l-i>' Lletails from the 
fi'ith and Hhth Regiments, anel when 
the o2nd Briga^le detail mo\ ed out along 
the road at se\en o clock in the e\ening. 
kxl b\ Lieutenants Ciriffin and Myers, 
there were some six hundrci;! head of 
horses in line, four abreast, with about 
one htini-lred and eight\ men including 
the Sergeants in charge who ix.kIc single- 
mounted, l'he\- ha^l a long trip as they 
had some sixty kilometers to cover, and as the long col- 
umn nio\"ed out in the gathering twilight, it was an 
awe-inspiring sight to the men who watched them go 
o\'er the crest of the hill, horses anel riders silhouetted 
against the setting sun. 

It was an\thing but awe-inspiring to the men them- 
sehes, as just about that time they began to l-^e \ ery 
x'cry, busy. Came darkness, and with it came trouble. 
As had been said before, the "chevatix " were hungry; it is 
hard enough to take care of one hungry horse, but manag- 
ing fotir of them is praeticalh' impo.ssible. E\ery time 
the column slow eel tip the animals thought it was a stop, 
and they bolted for the nearest grass. The column 
moxed along, suddenly, an unlucky rider (without quite 
knowing how or when) founel himself clear of the roael in 
a held, his four horses calmly munching grass with the 
\ery evident intention of staying there all night. He 
cussed, using all the ee|Liine threats he hael e\er heaivl, 
and some invented especially lor the occasion; he called 
down maledictions on those horses and said unkind things 



Pityt' mo 



The l\('(l (iiiidoii 



that rcllectCLl on their families: lie kicked them m the 
ribs, and the horses kept on eating. Llsually, just about 
this time a sergeant came along and the two of them 
together got the horses back in the road anel up to the 
rear of the column. 

The night wore on. The first half of it was a night- 
mare, and the air was filled w ith curses and imprecations 
against these particular horses, and all horses in general, 
and every once in awhile, off the road in the blackness of 
an adjoining field, came a \oiee. It was ne\er a gentle 
voice, on the contrary, it was always high-pitched, and 
very, \ery, angry. 

"Oh, you blankety-blank blank' ^ oti blank excuses 
foi- horses you' Get those heads up, and let s get gojng 
oi' I'll knock them back in your blank, blank, shoulders' 
What do you think this is, a picnic, or a free lunch or 
sum'pin"^ Don't \ou know we're going some place^ 
Oh-h-h-h damn!" ( 1 hen a despairing wail.) "Hey, Lootn't, 
won't you gi\e me permission to kill a couple of these 
blankety-blank "ehevaux^" I'd do it too sweet and 
I'm not kidding a bit about that!" 

Then came the usual amount of advice and s\nipath\' 
from his more fortunate brothers in the column. 

■"What's a matter ;' ^'ou're not mad, are you""" 

"Why don't you talk Irench to em. Buddy ^'' 

"Tut-tut, Harold, — you swore' " 

"Give them 'column left" and then "lorwaivl march.' 
^'oLi gotta be militar\ in this League, " etc.. etc 

Through some kind of an o\ersight, jim Bennett 
only had three horses when he started out, anel at ten 
o'clock he only had one. He had lost two in the interim 
and he didn't gi\e a darn who knew it He was perfectly 
happy; as jim said, " They can shoot me in the morning, 
but I'm not going to be miserable tonight" Howe\er. 
his happiness was shnrt-lncel for one-hall hour later 
"Duke" ^ ork found him. "Duke" was leaeling lim's 
lost two horses, and another that so nebody else had lost, 
and for the rest of the night, Bennett tia\elcd w ith four 

Tweh'e o'clock came, then one, then two B\- two 
o'clock, things had steaelieel tlow n pretty well, and the 
supposition was that the horses, like the men. were too 
tireel to eat. I hey pliKkleel on anel on. co\ering the 
kilometers that lay between them and their goal. Tall 
Lombardy poplars shaded the roav-l now and then the way 
lay between a ruined, shell-torn \illage. an^l on the 
western horizon, the red dicker grew bnghiei and brighter. 
and the rumble of guns grew more audible, as they neared 
Verdun. On the road, as far as one could see were 
mo\ing black masses — horses an>.l men The echo of 
hools came from far up the line Here anel there a 
cigarette butt glowed in the ^larkness or a match flared, 
and h'oni somewhere came a \oiee raised in song: 
"I dont want anv more army, 
Lordy, but I want to go home." 

Dawn came at last on the road to Verdun. Dawn of a 
night that seemed a million \ears lonii. and the morninu 



sun found a weary bunch of men and horses pulling into 
Auzeville. A stop was made in a big field here, the horses 
v\ere tied and the men had breakfast. It was only bread, 
jam, corned-beef anci cold water, but it tasted like manna 
from the Gods. One hour afterwards they were on the 
way again. To use an army term, "the convoy was split"" 
here and half the horses under Lieutenant Grif'fin and 
detail went to ,Autreville, and the other half, under 
Lieutenant Nhcrs, went to Dombasle. 

The B Battery contingent w ent w ith Lieutenant Myers. 
The boys were still dead tired, although they felt better, 
and they had a chance to look around them. It was 
very interesting, the road lay along what had been the 
front up until a lew short weeks before. L\erywhere 
were trenches and barbed-wire entanglements. At one 
place the sahage department had not had a chance to 
\isit and the fiekls were thick with gas-masks, steel 
helmets, hob-nails, packs and pack carriers, everything 
and anything that the doughboy discards when going 
"o\er the top." They descended a long hill into a 
terribly shell-torn \illage. It was Recicourt, and here 
they saw the onl\- tmit of the 37th Di\ision that thc\' were 
to come across during the war — the 112th Military 
Police. The meeting was not as hearty as it would have 
been had they been the infantry or engineers, for it must 
be admitted that there was ne\er any great amount of 
lo\e lost between B Battery and the Gamp Sheridan M. P, 

There is a funny story connected w ith the descent of 
that hill. When they reached their destination later in the 
day. Lieutenant Myers had dinner w ith the officers of the 
Engineei' outfit he turned the horses o\er to. Talking to 
one of these officers he casually mentioned the descent, 

"Do you mean to tell me,"" that officer asked, '"that 
you came down that hill into Recicotirt in broad daylight^"" 

"Stire' " Lieutenant Myers grinned, "Why not?" 

"Hell, man! That hill is exposed and in direct observa- 
tion of the German lines. They are shelling it about 
half the time, and they hit it too! " 

Dombasle. their destination, was reached at noon, and 
here they got the cheeiiul ( ?) information that C Gompany 
ol the 21rd Engineers who were to take the horses over, 
were up around Verdun somewhere, and would not 
return till (j\e o'clock: so there was nothing to do hut 
wait. This was the crowning catastrophe of all — the gang 
were so tired they could hardly stand, they had no more 
rations, and they had to hang on to those horses for four 
more hours. Art Faulkner bit huge chunks out of his 
saddlebags in his rage, and Stambaugh leaned against 
his horse and almost wept, btit there was no help for it, 
so they led the horses into a nearby field and waited, and 
it was a long wait for the field was full of shell-holes 
covered over with brush and the animals haei to be 
watched e\'ery minute; as it was, two of them plunged 
into a hole up to their necks, and it was an hour's work 
extricating them. Below the field was the Verdun road 

(Continued on next page) 



B'Battcry's Z ost 



MLCH puhlicit\- has Ix-en aixen a certain Battalion in 
the A. E, I" whiclT lost itself, Lluim.a the acti\itics 
in the Argonne. but little il an\thin.c has been saiel of B 
Battery s lost eietaehment, uhieh w ill call a battalion for 
the purpose of a simile The beinch that strayed from 
the Batter\' on the trip Irom Camp (\iest to Apremont 

There were perhaps t\venty-fi\e men m the bunch 
that by mistake got on the trucks of the I3nh bieki 
Artillery and failed to stop at Apremont when the Batter\- 
did. They went about eight miles further and finalh 
stopped at Heudicourt about fi\e A. M, "Chief" Hage- 
man, Mark Dreese, Cjeorge White, Bill Lenihan. Thur- 
man Staudt. Bill .\lurph\-, Harry Moore, George Miller, 
and Russ Lathomer were but a few of the men who 
composed the group All were dead tireel anel famished 
when the\- tumbleel off the trucks and many were suffer- 
ing from the effects of gasoline fumes. Alter \ainly 
trying to get something to eat the fellows rolled up in 
their blankets anel went to sleep 

Those who were not sleep\' enough to sleep till noon 
were able to get a bite to eat from a rolling kitchen, 
belonging to a Coast Artillery Corps outfit that went b\' 
about ten o'clock, khe majority of the fellows elieln't 
get up for this treat and so when they c\entuall\ did 
arise they iounel themscKes facing temporary star\ation, 
B Battery's rolling kitchen was miles away and the only 



thing left ol Heuelicourt was a water-trough and huge 
piles oi stone that had once been buiklings. 

Alter searching \ainl\- e\crywhere for food some of 
the boys \olunteered to go back to Buxerulles a little 
village four miles away in which they learned from a 
French soldier, food could be ptirchased. It was late in 
the afternoon when this scouting party rettirned bringing 
w ith them all the available food, si.x cans of sardines and 
two loaves ol breael. 

I he (^oast Artillery Corps bunch that had feel some 
of the earlier risers had gi\en them a large bone to which 
a few shreels ol meat still clung .X bucket miraculously 
appeared anel with the aiel of some cabbage and turnips 
taken from what had a short time ago been a German 
"war garelen, " a soup was soon being brewcel o\er the ffre. 
It took an awfully longtime to prepare that bucket-full of 
slum, but when it was finall\- ready and the fellows do\ e 
in. It was surel\- one of the most appreciated dishes the\' 
hael e\er eaten in the army. 

When, on the following day. the Batter\- came along 
and pickcel the lost ones up, it was somewhat of a surprise 
to Cooks Se^lberr) anel Mason to ha\e the "lost battalion" 
fall on their necks anel ask il the> were still friends, B 
Battery s lost battalion hai.1 no casualties, but it was 
onl\ elue to the i^rompt arrival of the flattery cooks that 
aboLit twent\-lf\e were not found reael\ for the hospital. 



The Road to Verdun 



iCi>ntinued 

With a ne\ er-eneling procession of trucks, camions. Reel 
Cross ambulances, motorcycles and wagons. 

C Company came at last, and B Battery was so glad 
to see them that they almost fell on their necks and wept. 
It was such a relief that the\' forgot to be miserable when 
they found that it was still three kilos to C Company's 
stables, and that they had to go there to get their halters 
back. 

The horses were finally delivered, and the whole gang 
from Lieutenant Myers to the lowest buck-private heaved 
a sigh of relief anel breathed a fervent " I hank Cjod'' 
.\nother long wait till the trucks came, a long jolting si.x 
hour ride in trucks, and one o'clock in the morning found 
the Battery back in L.aimont I en minutes later George 
Couchey crawling into bed, woke up f lowarel Miller. 

"Was it a good trip, George^" he asked. 



trom page loOi 

'^ eah swell trip'" George said in a voice bitter 
w ith sarcasm, 

"Do \()U want to get up for breakfast^" 
"Do 1 — what^ He\' Btiddv-. 1 elon't want to get up 
till this time next week' " 

Beside Lieutenant Mvers anel Sergeant ^'ork. the 
men who were luckv' enough to go on the trip were Art 
kaulkner. C'raig Starn. jim Bennett. Mcrvi Stambaugh. 
Dick I homas. 1 ommy Thompson. Skeets Werner. Joe 
Sehnitzler. Henrv' Peters. A. B. Clark, Earl Davidson. 
Shorty Beckleheimer, Warren Scott, j, B, Michael and 
George C, Couchey, And Duke ^'ork voiced the senti- 
ments of the whole crowi.1 when he saiel later, "I wouldn't 
have missed it for a hundred dollars, but 1 wouldn't go 
on It again for a thousand I " 



P(I<JC 1()2 



The Red Guidon 



Lieut. Trautman Strategist 



T)\^BATTER^'MEN were witnesses to the onl>- near 
•L' j.^casLialty in the 134th regiment's war history. 

, Lieutenant 1 ratitman of Batter\- C with se\eral 
carriages and men from A, B ani.1 C Batteries pullei-l up 
across No-Man's Land one dark night and was halted 
by the iVl. P. guarding the cross roads. 

"Where's C Battery^' asked Trautman. after he 
ha^l Llisco\ered he had gone too far forward. 

"How the hell do 1 know," yelled the \I. P. "Say. do 
you know where you are^ ' 

"No," 

'Well, you're damned near up to the German lines." 

"My Lord. m\' Lord,'" exclaimcLl I rautman. 

"It'll be vour Lord if vou don't get out of here, " the 



M. P 



id. 



1 iciutman I tightened and excitci.1 beyond description, 
turned to his soldiers. "Forward men," he commanded, 
"[■orward 

L'rom the time B [battery went into the lield until 
she returned from b ranee there was always more or less 
close friendship between the B Batterymen and the men 
of A and C Batteries of the 1 34th Field Artillery. 
Nothing in the line of scraps, athletic or otherwise in 
which one of these batteries e\er became mi.xed up in 
e\er went by unnoticed in B Battery. 

At Camp Willis, Ohio, there was some ri\alr\- between 



the three batteries of the 1st Battalion, probal?ly because 
there were no other artillery outfits to pick quarrels with. 

brom the time the Clhio batteries reached the border 
ho\ve\er it was always the old 1st Battalion that engaged 
in the differences with other outfits. The 1st Battalion 
stood oil the Georgia artillerymen on the border one day, 
on one or two occasions took issue w ith other National 
Guard or regular army outfits. 

It was at Camp Sheridan that the old ties began 
really to bind together the men of the 1st Battalion. The 
men of Batteries A, B and C were \eterans in the Ohio 
Artillerv Brigade at that camp and their common aims 
and ambitions were to keep before the soldier public at 
Sheridan the fact that the other fifteen batteries were 
made up of recruits. 

The men of the three batteries were all pretty well 
acquainted with one another and even in France the old 
1st Battalion pullctl together against the 2nd [battalion 
and the rest of the brigade, B flattery was always "for" 
Batteries A and C^, 

Scene, -~B Battery billet at i-laml^luzin. France. 

Ross Kalaher — Say, Meledor, don't you like the Irish? 

Melecior — Sure I like the Irish, Ross — I worked where 
there were three-hunLlred of them once and I wished at 
the time there had been three-hundred more, 

Kalaher — Where was that ■ 

\ IcLxlor — In a gra\evard. 



Why is a Cigar Lighter? 



AN eager, expectant looking crowd was gathered around 
the sto\e, in the big billet at Camp Du Chanois (The 
I Iill). [-"reddy Clark, Nick Carson and Martin Shere came 
crowding up to the gathering trying to edge into what 
they supposed to be a game of African billiards. 

"Natural," "shoot it again" and "a franc you can't " 
were some of the expressions which attracted crap- 
shooters. 

Closer in\estigation showed that it was something 
much more interesting than a common crap game, for 
Fish Moore was exhibiting a cigarette lighter- -which 
lighted 

"And 1 onl\ paid twenty francs for it too. " said bish 

"I got one for fifteen, but there isn t an>' gas in it. 
said I ul:) Lamiell furiously turning the little wheel 
"I just can't keep it filled" 

"Mine's got something the matter with the little 
carbon thing it i^lon't feed right " chimcLl in Pete 
Hirleman, 



"Well, in all m\' experience w ith sparks, " said George 
Couchy, Battery B's celebrated spark plug artist. "I've 
ne\er seen such stubborn sparks as these in French 
cigarette lighters " 

No matter how much they cost or how good looking 
thc\' were, these lighters in\'ariably balked at the touch 
of an\' Batter\man On the other han^l, no one ever 
saw a Poilu with an intractible allermeur dc cigarette. 
The alibis ad\anced for the failure of these lighters to 
work were numerous but e\ cry man had his stock of 
excuses 

After numerous purchases of all sizes and description 
of lighters. Lieutenant Myers, at last found a good one. 
I hen he ha^l the trouble of picking the good one from his 
collection when he wanted a light. Bill Owens intended 
fastening a box of matches on the bottom of his lighter 
and furnish the necessar\- spark from a match Since 
the Poilu assured all the fellows that these lighters were 
made from Boche shells they were nice souvenirs although 
as cigarette lighters the>- made good soap boxes. 




''ID^' {^olly," sa 

L' cookinji lor 



5r this bunch if they would onl> show 
some appreciation ' 

"J^ure that's the \\a\ I feel about it, said (-)rland 
DLitlanel, "(.Ji\e em oatmeal and the\' \ell for hotcakes 
and gi\e them hotcakes and they squawk for oatmeal." 

"Those bnvls forj^et they're in France," said George 
('apron, "and the\ forget there isn't as much oatmeal and 
milk over here as there was in Cami^ SheiKlan or bort 
Ben Harrison 

A couple ol kitchen police offered something in tlie 
\Ka\ of criticism ol the Batter\men s attitu^le ti)\\ard the 
mess and in a moment the entire Battery from the biggest 
jungle l-iu::;ai\l to the lightest eater in the Batter\- was on 
the carpet 

The kitchen force that fed the Batter\ in brance hacf 
probably iTiore difficult\ getting food and fecLling the 
bo\s than an\' other crew of cooks in the Battery's history. 
Mess Sergeant George Curry, George Capron, Orland 
Outland, Albert "Jucige" Mason and Sidney Sedberry 
undertook to nourish the [^atter\ while the bo\s were in 
France, and they did, but often wished that the\ had 
remained dri\ers or cannoneers instead 

The cooks would pan the Battery un^l the Batter\ 
would pan the cooks, [discussions like the one abo\e 
were commonplace. 

"'^"ou can t e\er please them, ' judge Mason wouki 
say. "Remen^ber the time we ga\e them oatmeal lor 
one-hundred eighteen clays at Camp Sheridan. I he\ 
got tired ol oatmeal and said th.y were going to ask the 
captain lor nosebags 

Sidney Sedberi\' would calm the boys when the\' got 
workei-l up about the Battery's lunn\ appetites."F"orgct 
it,' he d sa\, "somebody is sure to howl about the chow 
no matter what you gi\e them. Either they dont like 



the grub, there's not enough of it or there's too much. 
Somebody's always beefing " 

Mess Sergeant CAiir\' used tt) make a stucK- ol the 
Battery appetite. He knew the food capacity of every 
man in the Battery in I^Tance. "Take C. T, Sharp or 
Ste\e Mar\in."" Curr\" would sa\ , "those la^ls could eat 
a lard pail of slum and still feel hungry. .'Xn^l how old 
Steve used to crab. He e\ en kicked about the Christmas 
dinner." 

"".And old "Coffee" John Downe\ ."" continued George. 
"John came to B Battery from the Hhth regiment and 
they must ha\e been starx'ing him up there because he 
was all run i^low n when he came to us. It was a long time 
before we got the wrinkles out of "coffee John" and got 
liim weather-boarded up. " 

I )kl William "Galloping' Gulick was the most effiLient 
buzzarel in the Battery, accorciing to the cooks. I he 
galloping jungler was the first man in the messline for 
breakfast, dinner and supper and he was the first man in 
the seconds line from the time he joined the Battery 
until he left l^ut William was a good natured lellow. 
He tliLln't mini-l seeing the next lellow buzz a little 

Another reliable 

seconds man was 

.Archie Murphy, 

the Battery bindle. 

.\it Possehl, Jesse 

"Izzy" Sayre, Don 

Cochran, Harry 

Slater, bay Haller, 

Howard Miller, 

(.jeorge Coujhe\ . Ike Spicer and a lew more ne\er were 

d\spjptics around the Battery in brance either —not 

that the cooks knew about. 

Harry Moore. Don Scott, Louis Isenman, l^ill Bass, 
Harold Moock, Karl Molodore and one or two others 
were the only men who could eat heartily on the ship 
that brought the Batter\- to ['Vance I'ub l.amiell used 
to sa\ that Earl "Youngs and Red Hogue e\en ate their 
tripe on board ship and then asked for his. '["hose boys 
were dependable buzzari-ls if there e\er were any. 

Sergeant Curry used to tell a good story about Archie 
Murphy. The one in which Archie pealed onions until 
he couldnt see, lor a pan ol beans. Currie can tell tlie 
story best The way he tells about gning Archie three 
bottles of catsup to help rinse down the beans was funny. 




Page Ki'i 



The lied (iiiidon 



Friendship in ''A B and C " Combination 



FROM the timeB Battery went into the field until she 
returned from France there was always more or less 
close friendship between the B Batterymen and the men 
of A and C Batteries of the 134th Field Artillery. 
Nothmi; in the line of scraps, athletics or otherwise in 
which one of these batteries e\er became mixed up in 
e\er v\ent by unnoticed in B Battery. 

At Camp Willis Ohio, there was some rivalry between 
the three batteries of the 1st Battalion, probably because 
there were no other artillery outfits to pick cjuarrels with. 
From the time the Ohio batteries reached the border 
however it was always the old 1st Battalion that engaged 
in the differences with other outfits. The 1st Battalion 
stood off the Georgia artillerymen on the border one day. 



on one or two occasions it took issue with other National 
Guard or regular army outfits. 

It was at Camp Sheridan that the old ties began 
realh' to bind together the men of the 1st Battalion. The 
men of Batteries A B and C^ were \eterans in the Ohio 
Artillery Brigade at that camp and their common aims 
an^l ambitions were to keep before the sokiier public at 
Sheridan the fact that the other filteen batteries were 
made up of recruits 

I he men of the three batteries were all pretty well 
acciuamtcd w ith one another and e\'en in France the old 
1st Battalion pulled together against the 2nd Battalion 
and the rest of the brigade: B Battery was always "for" 
Batteries A and (~.. 



Do you remember the Wheel L^rners Ball at Mont- 



gomery ' 
* * * + 



Do you remember the pig Cre\eling swiped at Belle- 
lontaine, Ohio'' 

* 1: * :i4 

Do you remember the hike up the mountains in lexas^ 

Do you remember when "Fish" Moore was buying dol- 
lar bills in f^-ance^ 




Do you remember the time 'I wo Ckin Jones ' eaptLiretl 
the desperadoes'" 






Do you remember Harry Greenberg's ride on f^i.xic in 
front ol the liring battery at Camp 
Sheridan ^ 



* * * 



Do you remember the "Rest Camps" in l^ngland an^ 

France^ 
* * * * 

Do you remember the last night in the army' 




Do you remember the Hamliurg Show song' 

* ^: * ^ 

Do you remember "the thirel hole'" Rumors. 

Do you remember Carl lrub\'s ticrman telephone' 

Do you remember xour first experience with the "Cari- 
bou'" 

* * * * 

Do you remember Inez anel Marie Antoinette at the Gate 
lIc la Gare. m Le L.ion d Angers' 




TSHOT 




Al-TLiR two \cars ol drill and preparation m a dozen 
different eamps it is doubtful if B Battery could ha\e 
fotind in all their tra\els a more picturesque setlinii; lor 
their first engagement against a real enem\\ 

On a hill o\erlooking the "petit" \illages, snuggling in 
the \erdant meadows helow , the guns of B Battery were 
first laid on the enem\ boche Behind the protecting 
barrier formed by the hill on which the Battery s guns 
were placed, la\ the peaceful looking \illages of 
Bauzemont and \illea Val. while in the distance, hazih' 
descried, the beautiful Moselle n\er wende^l its wa>' 

In front ol the Battery's position and under "Meinic s 
observation lay Port stir Seillc. and the remains ot the one- 
time beautiftil Chateau du Dombasle. while on the left 
flank of the Batter\ the remaining roofs of St Gene\ ie\e, 
flashed defiance to the several t]erman (Observation Posts. 
Although almost devastated by lour vears of war, these 
little clusters of ixxl thatched buiklings sccmcLl to have 
been placed there onlv to ad^l to the attractiveness ol 
the landscape, IndeCi.! the beautiful scenerv around this 
first position almost made the artillci v men lorget the 
circumstances which h;Kl brought them there In the 
beautiful foot-hills of the Vosges, it was very easv to 
dream —had it not been for the offending boom ol the 
guns 

brom this vantage point the Batterv might have 
pounded away for weeks at the boche without great Iv' 
endangering themselves, 1 he guns being on such high 
ground offered a poor target to the cncmv , an^l thev were 
so well dug in and camouflaged that it is i:loubtlul if they 
could have been spotted at all No firing was done Irom 
these positions however, it being figured that they were 
too important to give awa\ tintil time l(ir the"big drive ' 
that one heard of on all skIcs It was from hastih' 
constructed pits in the \ alley ahea^l of the regular positions 
that B Battery eventually launched into "Lc CM'an^le 
(aierre " 

It was a very melo^lramatic entrv that B L5atterv 
made intri those first positions Coming up Irom the 
echelon at Millerv, unLler cov er ol elarkness, they formallv' 
relievei.1 the 2 32nLl brench .Artillcrv, and took over a 
sector on the fighting front V'erv melodramaticalh' too 
did two of the guns and gun crews move back down the 
hill into the valley, under cover of a heavy mist and over 



roads that were, on clear davs. un^ler Llirect observation 
of the tjcrmans 
"ASIDE I-ROM THE L'SUAL ARTILLERY' 
ACTIVITIES ON THIS ERONT. THERE IS 
NOTHING OEAN^' IMPORTANCE TO REPORT." 
The above statement familiar to every newspaper 
reacler as the common report, in the American com- 
muniques, of activ ities w ithout anv loss or gain ol ground 
may have been true, so far as the world at large was 
concerned, but there were men in B Battery who at one 
time wx)ukl have vouched for its being a gross mis-state- 
ment of facts 1 here was, in their opinion much more 
th m the usual thing to report. It should have mentioned 
the fact that there were no casualties, and that B Battery 
was a very thanf;ful outfit. 

The trip from the permanent positions to the tempor- 
aiv ones took the little parade across an open field, 
broken onlv by a few wagon tracks. This stretch of 
meadow lay at right angles to Heinle's Observation 
Posts, and within range of his artillerv'. So long as the 
heavv mist hung over all, the movement was entirely 
screene^l from the enemv .Although the sun had risen, 
It had not vet broken through the mist, and it was the 
object of the Battery to reach their gun-pits before this 
happened. 

Owing to the lack of gootl emplacements, an^l to the 
nature of the job ahead, onlv two of the gtms were to be 
used forward at a time, bor the first excursion toward 
Germany, the first and thir>.l sections, under Sergeants 
E^ob Newman and Pat Lynch were calkxl tipon 

lust as Winfield "Red" McCracken pulled his lead 
pair of horses to the right to start across the open field — 
Old Sol, as though controlkxl bv the boche for a spotlight, 
sent his rays beaming through the mist revealing the 
moving carriages in broad ^lav-light, f-rom his Observa- 
tion Posts on the opposite hill "britz could see the whole 
parade [lieutenant Leah\'. m charge of the platoon. 
gave the order to doubly increase the gait and the boys 
did I'hev whipped their horses into a gallop, and it 
IS doubtful if the enemy could have followed the column 
after that I he old training the men ha^l experienced, 
on going into action at a trot and gallop helped in this 
emergency. The drivers felt a thrill that it is the priv ilege 
of few to feel as they galloped their horses across the field, 



Page 166 



The Red (iiiidon 



swunf; the j^iins into position. anJ dashed away with the 
limbers. 

As the trail ol the thud section ,t;Lin hit the diit and 
buried itself, a mighty howl went up h'om the gun-crew. 
"Hold up there," cried George Couchey to the rest ot 
the crew as he stood looking (irst at the gun position and 
then in the elirection of Cjermany. "This aint a position, 
it's a target," continued George. 

"Hey, do we have to clean up all this burlap and w iie 
here before we begin to fire''" inquired Guy "Casey" 
Price. 

■'Ah, how do you get that way," yelled Sergeant Pat 
Lynch, "that aint to be policed up, that s KelK s camou- 
flage, " 

True enough the third section gun seemed to be 
marked rather than concealed by the camouflage screen 
over it. Vari-colored burlap and raffia supported on a 
wire net si.x feet from the ground, covered the area of the 
gun position, r^om lateral observation the screen 
looked just like a weather beaten Hat top tent in an 
open field, but it was not from such observation that 
Camoufleur Joe had endeavored to conceal 

With a detail of six men. Corporal Kell\ had spent 
the night before screening this little area, and for the 
purpose that it was intended, he claimed it to be a master- 
piece. "Just like a continuation of the field beneath it." 
is what Joe said it looked like from the aeroplanes from 
which he was hiding the position. 

The first section seemed to be in a better position. 
The gun was also under camouflage, but on the edge of a 
bit of woods into which the camouflage seemed to blend 
making the gun concealed even from lateral observation 
It was just a short distance to the right of the third 
section. 

After the guns were placed the telephone communica- 
tion was established. Corporal P)on Cochran, Bill Murphv 
and Mike Shepherd running wires in two or three direc- 
tions from the guns. 

The telephones were tested and communication 
established with the forward observation post in the 
trenches ahead. Then came the long wait for the order 
from headquarters to fire. It was deemed necessary to 
wait for the mist to clear up so the results of the Battery's 
work might be better observed. 

Cook Sidney Sedberry with his impromptu kitchen 
in the woods had started a nice fire with the aid of some 
B. S. P. ( powder) , and while the coffee boiled some of the 
boys held a council of war, around the fire. Others went 
on little tours of investigation out towards the trenches, 
at that time occupied by the Q2nd Division (colored) 
i hey told some very funny stories upon their return, 
of what they had seen the elark complected boys doing 
up there. 

Later in the afternoon, when the dinner (such as it 
was) had been finished; that is, after Corporal Bill Hovis 
had finished his "seconds" — the order to get "set" came 



down. Old Sol had again made his appearance, this time 
permanentiv , All men were called to their posts and the 
ammLinition prepared for a problem, 

B Battery's first shot in the war was fired at two 
thirty-five in the afternoon of that day by Gunner Larry 
ketch, just a fraction of a second before the "crack " of 
the third section gun was heard announcing Gunner 
Cjeorge Nvcamp's entrance into the hostilities. At last 
the war between B Battery and Germany was on. 

The firing orders had been "Battery three rounds," 
and the three shells trom each ol the guns were on their 
way in record time. In less than two minutes it was 
evident that they had stirred up something too, lor the 
Batterymen saw Heinle's shells bursting with thunderous 
reports on the American Observation Post. This Observa- 
tion Post was located on a high hill to the left and in 
front of the Battery it was known as Mousson and 
served as a barrier between a part of the town of Pont a 
.Mousson and the enemy. On the topmost pinnacle of 
this hill was a statue of Joan of Arc and a shrine which 
haeH at one time been a pilgrimage. Four years of war 
had torn this hill up pretty well, but, although somewhat 
scarred by the fragments of high explosives that had 
struck It, the statue had never had a direct hit scored 
on It The Germans evidentiv thought that the Ameri- 
cans were observ ing fire from this place, and were continu- 
ally trying to demolish it 

After about fifteen minutes of Boche bombardment 
on the hill the order came to fire, "Eighteen rounds, 
as fast as possible" was considered the necessary dose to 
st(.)p the obnoxious German battery's fire As last as 
Mike Shepherd and Bill Mtirphy could throw the shells 
into the guns, those eighteen rounds went flying over into 
Heinle's territory The 77s became silent almost at 
once, but where the 77s had stopped, the heav les took it 
up and from the number of 21()s that dropped on cither 
flank, ani-1 in the rear of the Battery it was ev iclent that 
they were trying to return B Battery's compliment but 
^lidn't know just where to return it. 

In coming to this lorward position it had been the 
intention to merely harass Frit:, and then, under cover 
of darkness, sneak back to the permanent position on the 
hill. So far the harassing hac^ seemed to be quite a 
success but only twenty-four rounds of ammunition 
remained; the Battery having brought only tort\'-five in 
all. Dusk was descending by the time Lieutenant Leahy 
had another problem to fire Communication with the 
forward Observation Post had fx'en destroyed in some 
manner, anel nfuv the observing was being done from St. 
Genevieve in the rear of the Battery. The gun-crews 
were told that the next target was a German billet, and 
that knowledge added a thrill to the engagement that the 
boys had never felt before. 

The orders had said, for this problem, "twentv' rounds 
as last as possible." The order was complied with in a 
hurry, but since each gtin had only four rotincls left after 



The Red Guidon 



Page 161 



that, they all decided to let them go on the samr target, 
for it was unknown just when they would ha\e another 
target, so worthy of their sei'ap-iron It was a \'ery 
beautiful sight to see th; landscape light up as each of 
the guns belched forth their flame into the fast gathering 
dusk. It surely must ha\e been \ery attracti\e to Heinie 
too. for he had e\idently been watching it 

Just as "Mutt" Bausman and " Tub" L^amiell had 
packed the last of the remaining fuses and empty shell- 
cases and all the fellows were waiting for the limbers to 
put in their appearance — WHIZZ-BANG' Not more than 
one hundred yards in front of the guns one of Heinle's 
tsching-bums landed and burst. 

There was a mad rush for shelter, for orders had been 
given to leave the guns in case of any return of fire. It 
was quite evident that the Boche had almost the proper 
range and dellection so no one was taking any chances. 
Led by the able gas expert Corporal Cjcorge Miller, with 
his nose close to the ground, trying to scent gas. they 
sped towards the woods. George was going some, but 
Larry Fetch was pressing him for position while he in 
turn was being crowded by Corporal N'ycamp anLl How ard 
Miller, just as the fellows were about to stop another 
shell dropped in the woods ahead, and the course of the 
race was turned. Rather than rush into the wooi^ls 
towards which they were headed the boys all Icll at the 
edge of the little gro\'e and tried to conceal themselves 
behind the little saplings that grew there. It certainly 
was funny to see Larry, liil-" and about three others all 
trying to hide behind one little tree The shells con- 
tinued to fall at about the same i.listance. but no one knew 
when britz might decide to increase his range and no one 
was willing to gamble their $101)0(1 insurance that he 



w^ouldn't. Corporal Bill Hovis fotmd a deserted dug-out 
and called to the fellows to follow him. In this place, 
then, the gun-crews stayed until the rain of .scrap-iron 
was o\ er. 

Corporal (Cochran and his detail were out in the lielel 
reeling up the telephone wire, when the first shell lancleci 
close. 1 hey were too far from the dug-out to gain its 
entrance so were compelled to drop into the edge of the 
woods for protection. 

Harold Moock had been helping Cook Sid to get his 
kitchen torn down and ready to move when that first 
memorable shell burst close by and it was with great 
elifficulty that Harokl con\ inced Sidney that the shot had 
not hit him. 

About a half hour later the limbers which had been 
waiting under co\ er a few kilos away, came up. The 
drivers. Reed ^'orkey. Art Possehl and Carl Schrank of 
the third section anel "Red" McCracken. Carl Moledor 
and "Ike" Spicer of the first section were surpriscLl to 
find no one at the guns to greet them, for firing had 
stopped fifteen minutes before and it was quite dark by 
this time. 

Sergeant Newman soon rounded up the gun-crews, 
and as soon as the last man crawled out of the dug-out, 
the little parade of B Batterv' harassers started eagerly 
lor their home on the hill. It was unanimously voted 
that the business of harassing Fritz was exciting enough 
but interest lagged when one ran out of ammunition and 
had to pla\' target lor the other fellow. 

At eleven-thirty that night B Battery was again to- 
gether on the top of the hill and at least one platoon ready 
lor sleep. Thus endcLl the first da>"S firing at an enemy, 
for B fiattery. 



THE GQNIOMETEli MEN: 

Oui- IniSftfument Detail In finance 



LFI us not. m reading about the experiences of the 
Battery o\ eriook that part of the organization known 
as the Instrument Detail, and often alluded to as the 
■'Brains of the Batterv," It is lamentable that in at 
least one instance this was taken seriously, but a member 
of this detail was on the job to set the erring one aright 
in this regard. 

It is difficult to determine the true deri\ation of the 
title "Instrument Detail. but perhaps the name is 
derived from the fact that in their work various fire 
control instruments were useel. namelv': the Batterv 
Commander's Telescope, the Range binder, the Gonio- 
meter and others The range finder is used exactly for 
the purpose which the name implies, anel is a mechanical 



arrangement of prisms which reflect two images ol an 
object upon a mirror, one above the other anel upside 
down. These images are brought to coincide and the 
range is read from an indicator at the left of the eye piece. 
The Battery Commander's telescope and goniometer 
are simply instruments fur measuring angles, but the 
latter differs slightlv' m that it also has a magnetized 
needle and is uscel in lav mg the guns. 

In the overseas Instrument Detail were Sergeant 
j, N, Shere, Corporals William Hovis. Glen Spade. 
Myron Craver and Homer Eckert: Percv' Harris. Jesse 
Sayre and John Jameson. If these boys, like the rest 
of the Batterymen were disappointed in not seeing more 
of the war they always got as much if not more out oi 



Page 768 



The Red Guidon 



the army life than the rest of the soldiers, for they lived 
together like a big family, pooling their tobacco, jam 
and other kixiiries of the arm\-, 

I he Instrument [Retail originally comprise^l hut 
three men and was combined with the signal men into 
one detail then known as the Battery Commanvjicr's 
lOetail, ShortK after the Battery reached Camp Sheri- 
dan, howexer, a new order created two details. Instru- 
ment and Signal, each entireK' separate, in its lunetions. 

Thereafter each specializei.1 in its vocation and mu.h 
work was done at Sheridan w ith the range finder an^.! the 
B. C. telescope, previously descnbed In addition, 
some terrain work was done, maps were drawn and the 
men were taught the use of the plane table After 
going to France, and while at Camp de Souge, se\eral 
new instruments were recei\ed among which were the 
goniometer, an obserxation telescope and two scissors 
telescopes, the latter replacing the old st\ le B C telescope. 

In a^ldition to work with the above named instruments, 
this detail undertook the mastery of the French range 
tables, problems in probabilities and Irench methods ol 
fire control, for the most part digging it out for themselves 
from the books that were available Camp De Souge 
being left behind an^l the front and action becoming 
something more than an imagination for the detail men, 
there was much discussion as to Just what would be 
expected ol the instrument detail, for although the tables 
of organization prescribed each member's work, there 
had never appeared an\' circumstance to justify the use 
of all of them. 

The time spent at Laimont. just before the Batterv 
went on the line although partially devoted to problems 
and some work with the instruments, shed no further 



light on the subject and it was not until the middle of 
Dctober when the Battery took up its first position that 
there was an\ ^lefinites Klea of what their work would 
consist 1 he Battery moved to Pompev', then known as 
"Pneumonia Hollow, " and about October 10th left for 
the Iront in earnest, accompanied by the entire detail, 
but upon their arrival at the positions, it developed that 
but three men of the Instrument Detail would be needed 
anei Sergeant J, N. Shere, and Corporals Mvron, Craver 
ani.! William Hovis remained with the Battery, the others 
returning with the limbers to echelon. 

Now there was real work to be done, assisting in 
reconnaissance, making up barrage tables, laying the 
pieces and so on, but as a w hole, the front was disappoint- 
ingly inactive, or so it seemed 

However, their stay there was short and after spending 
a lew days in Camp Quest and later in Apremont, the 
detail accompanied the Battery to \ igneulles and on 
into the positions in which the Battery spent the last 
dav's before the armistice was signed 

fdere the instrument Lletail's woi'k varied but little 
liom that done on the Xlarbache Iront, except that there 
was more ol it. and the signing ot the armistice brought 
the end of the war and left the detail little better off than 
before as regards a thorough experience m their duties 
in actual engagement 

In conclusion little mav be saii.1 concerning this detail 
mens actiNitv', but no one may L|uestion their ability, 
anLl had eircLimstances demanded their ser\ ice, the Battery 
woLild have found them fully capable, ani.1 prepared and 
the Batterv' never would have found it necessary to 
condemn their Instrument Detail, 



B Battery Almost Went to Germany 



"D BATTER")' didn't enter tiermanv with the A. hi b 
•L- ' Armv' of Occupation, but it ^lid not miss the trip by a 
whole lot On two occasions the [battery was among the 
"troops ot occupation, " but both times, bv' some stroke 
ol luck, good or ill, whichever you wish, the orders were 
changed and the Battery was permitted to remain in 
brance 

Whether or not the men wished to go into Cermanv 
with the Army of Occupation is a debated question 
1 here was onlv' one thing the bovs wished for an^l longei.1 
lor sincerely after the armistice That was to go home 
as quickly as possible 

As the long as the light lasted the men were wrapped 
up in It heart and soul I'hev alwavs thought of home 



and vearncLl lor it but not until after the Hun was beaten, 
di'J the thoLights ol home become poignant to them. 
I hen the c|uickest wav there was the wav' they wanted to 
go If bv .!J.<)ing to Ck-rman\ with the .-Xrmv of Occupation 
they could reach the States sooner than by staying in 
brance, then that was the way they wished to go. If it 
was a liltv-IJItv chance the maioritv wouki have chosen 
to go to Ck-rmanv' for it would have been an opportunity 
lor travel and sight-seeing and a chance to see the enemy 
m his natural haunts 1 he fact remains thev dKi not 
go In course of time they reached the States and 
whether they might have reached them sooner via the 
Rhine and Colben: was. alter all. a hard e|i.iestion to 
decide. 



Do you remember the refreshments at the New '^'ear's 
Party in France? 



Do you remember "Now. when 1 was down on the Bor- 
der. " 




Mary ^^ Meo-ie 

'^ chxxsc Mary 
every ttuxe 




WHO of LIS who were with the A E F in !• ranee were 
not at sometime aske^l this question "How elo 
you like the I-reneh girls^" 

It is quite a puzzle as to what leelinti prompted tins 
query from the (oiks at home whether of en\ \ of them 
because the\' could he near their boys or just plain 
curiosity. At least it woukl appear that the "maelamoi- 
selles" were eleemed attraetixe enough to be worth the 
consideration of the bo\s. 

Now, France is France, anel America is three thousanel 
miles awa\ anel in spite oi a ntimber of Franco-American 
conjugal alliances, it is maintamcel that "nc\er the twain 
shall meet " 

Howe\er, we must coneeele to the Mamselles ol 
France, beauty, lor they ha\e it. peculiar to their race 
though It may be. It is \ery striking. \et there are 
beautilul girls everywhere I he\- are attraeti\e. but the 
same may be said ol their sisters m other countries 
The French girls are charming of manner; quiet and 
demure or '"full of pep " 1 he\ are intelligent: the\ are 
possessed w ith a delightful courtes\ which is as e\ KJentK 
natural and spontaneous, as their latighing ga\ety 
Their hie is one of lo\c and laughter because the\ are a 
pleasure loving race. In all, they are \er\ fine girls, but- 

In .Xmerica there arc beautiful girls too. because in 
them IS combinei.1 the beauty ol all races, so closely 
intermingled as to ha\e brought out a bloom of feminine 
beauty, equalled only in splendor by that most perfect 
member of the llower king^lom the American beauty 
rose. — typical as it were of the fresh, red-blooded beauty 
of Americas \oung womanhoc)d, .Americas girls are 
attractive, even in the absence of striking beautv 1 hat 



thev are charming is merely a matter ol course and that 
we are all charmed sooner or later puts H bevonel lurther 
question .American girls ma\ not be quiet, demure, 
self-effacing individuals nor the xivaeiotis coquette, but 
the\ are just a rare combination with the proper propor- 
tions of lun. good nature, hie an^l convention that makes 
them what they are-the 0\L^' e]IRL.S 1\ THE 
WORLD lor .America s men 

For some of vou, there mav have l^een disappoint- 
ments, but if she turned vou elown while vou were "over 
there" unable to defend vour eau^e remember that 
"one bad egg in the basket does not spoil the lot. and 
besides she was not the kind nf a (^irl we are talking 
about 

^ ou see, the lelea is to convince these girb ot ours 
that we wei'e alwavs thinking of them (k-t the idea^ 
Then, when thev" ask us how manv" hrench girls we made 
love U>. we may just show them this little book, on this 
page, in this column and sav'. " 1 hat's what the bov s all 
think The French dames are all right, but 1 want mine 
A lade in .America" " Now. if V'ou tlon t let them get 
wise to vou vou will be "Jake." but we may leave it to 
the boys of Battcrv' B to put that across 

,'\nvhow. m a ntitshell. it all amounts to this, lor: 
There are beautiful girls in England. 

(.harming Ma>.lamoisellcs in France. 

The Senontas of Sunnv Spain, 

.And their charming Spanish dance 

But you mav seek the wide world over. 

Or search where ere vou mav , 

^'et the girl you want anel will some day find, 

Is rmht in the U. S. A 



Hoffman's Rats 



SERGE.AN I Bill Holffnan used to pav more attention to 
the rats in the elugouts on the west front than anvone 
else in the Battery. A rat running across Bills chest m 
the middle of the night positively disturbed him He 
useel to set traps lor the rats but the rodents were okl 
timers with three or four years' service on the front and 
none of them ever walked into Bill's traps, Hoffman 
save some of his bacon anel beans to put into his 



rat trap at night One night at the stiggestion ol Oeorge 
White he laid a nice big cheese sandwich in the trap. 
.\nel as soon as Bill went to bei.1 George got up anel ate 
the san^lw ich 

"What you otight to lIo, " saiel Martin Shere one elay. 
"is set a candle out beside the trap I don't believe the 
rats can fin^l the trap at night," 




Famous Sayings of B Battery men 



"Scissors" Hall — "Where's my kitclien police ■" 

* * * + 

M L-. ("lark — 'just a little bit more." 

* * * * 

Boh Newman — "l,et"s go gang'" 

+ + * * 

Straucl Jackson- "Cjimme some, what is that?" 

+ * * * 

Harry Harris — "Spare George'" 

* * * * 

McKee\er — "! "> — ! * — Gi\c 'em duck!" Duck in and 

Duck out. 

* * + * 

Sidney Seciberry — "By CjoIIv' " 

* * * * 

Bruce Newkirk — "Plaggone it!" 

* * * * 

Roland Thompson — "Little old girl, you jtist don't know." 

* + + * 

Roscoe Poling — "Period! Check! Next man!" 

* * * + 

Charles Lange — "Ck-t on your wheels and start rolling!" 

* * * * 

Bob Riden--"Welli Here 1 am. Colonel!" 

* * * * 

Col. Bush — "Bite 'im in the tail, Shafter!" 

James Hogue — "It's just like this, when a horse is sick, 

he aint feelin' well " 

* * * * 

Pat Lynch--"\Vhat's the big delay. 01i\er?" 

Geo. Couchey — "Get the paulin out' " 

* * + * 

Warren Edwards — "Easy lad. one hand" 

* * * * 

.Abbott Kneff — "Come and get it' " 

F-|arry Cjreenberg — "Achance to be inxestigated!" 

* * * :i: 

Lieut. Myers — "^ ou w in the brown derby." 



Harry Moore — "Got me a piece of bread?" 

* * * * 

[3an. Boone — "Bet you fi\e." 

* * * * 

Dick Thomas- "Oh' Boy." 



Art Taulkner -"Slip me the old fi\e." 

Pop 1-Y'tch -"Well, well' ^es. Sir!" 

* * * * 

liob Wiener — "How big arc the bottles^" 

Ka\'y — "I gi\e you five minutes and if you don't get out 
I'll give you something else." 

Capt. Leahy — "Sidney, got any jam^" 

Carl Schrank — "There's a kiss for you." 

* * * * 

Gerald Gru\er- "Got the dope sergeant?" 

* * * * 

Joe I\elly — "Get those brooms and go down that aisle." 

Ralph Curry — "The General's coming this morning lads." 

+ * * + 

"Nick " Carson — "Mm-mm— " 

Lieut. Geo. Curtin — "Now, let's see!" 

* * + + 



Lieut. Howard Myers — "Gunners to muh! " 

* * * * 

M. M. Shere — "Crap shooters front and center." 

* ^ * * 

Wilbur Dunn — "Wipe that smile!" 

* * * * 

Stewart Hobensack — "Give me that ball!" 

* * * * 

Myron Graver — "Wait till 1 get my map!" 
+ * * * 

"Mike" Greene — "Battery, Fall in!" 



Tlie Over»sed5f 



^^\ T^ERANDA speaking' H«\\ oltcn J\J thet.e words 

V sound (Alt the telephone wiies wliile the E5atter\ 
was on the front. "Veranda ' heing the code telephone call 
lor B Battery during its operations against Hcinie, The 
Battery s Telephone Detail in France pla\ ei.1 an important 
part in all Battery operations on the line. The guns 
would pull into position, camouflage would be thrown up 
and things set to fire Not until the telephones were 
installed and data had come down o\er the wires could 
any firing he done. Through endless miles of woods and 
fields, swamps uni.1 thickets. uni;ler roa^ls an^l cuKerts: 
from regimental to battalion, battalion to batter\. from 
battery to obser\ation post and up to the \ery front line 
trenches the lines must be run Ihis despite all the 
obstacles ol nature and the Hun. L'nder the most trying 
conditions communication had to be established, for 
without it the batter\ was helpless, or to use a common 
expression — bl i nt:l 

To Sergeant W illiam Hoffman. Corporals Don Coch- 
ran. Carl r ruby and Privates "Dick" Thomas, brank 
Werner. Ralph Scott. "Tom" Michael. "Bill" Summers 
Earl Da\ idson. .\ I L Clark. Steve Mar\ in. Morgan 
Bright, Harry Slater and Craig Starn go the credit lor 
this work. 

Bright. ,\lar\ in anel Slater transferred to the telephone 
detail from other sections soon after the Battery's arrival 
in France Fhe others had been in it in the States 
The entire Detail was given a five weeks course in tele- 
phone work, as use^l on the Iront. while the Batterv was 
at Camp de Souge I he instructors at the C^amp de Souge 
school were pieke^l men from the French. English and 
American armies: men who were experts in the work and 
who had gained their know ledge and experience in actual 
warfare. 

Examinations were held every week by the instructors 
at Souge, and it is worthy of note that the av erage grades 
made by the men in B Battery's Telephone Detail, for 
the five weeks course was ninety-four percent, approxi- 
mately ten percent higher than the average made bv anv 
other telephone detail, and the second highest mark ever 
made in Camp de Souge. 

Captain Leahy speaks in strongest terms of the 
excellent work done on the front by the telephone men 
and commends them highly. 

The telephone work was divided into two parts, 
stringing the lines and operating the telephones and 



sw itchl^oards. C^orporal I rui^v . I^riv ates Starn. .Marvin. 
Bright. Clark and Slater w ere linesmen : Corporal Cochran 
Thomas. Werner, Scott. Michael, Davidson and Summers 
operators, but the men usuallv' took turns at operating the 
boards and at laving and repairing lines. Sergeant 
Hoffman was in direct charge of the Signal Detail, 
floffman. Fruby. Cochran and l^ick I homas bore the 
brunt of the work on the first front above St. Genevieve: 
Cochran. I ruby, Werner, Michael and Thomas on the 
second front above \'igneulles had control of the work. 

I hey v\ere at the sw itchl^iiKUvl or carrving messages 
^lav ani.! night The short rest which they might have 
ha^l was broken b\- going out with members of the gun 
crew and helping in the hanelling of ammunition. They 
worked to the verv limit of human endurance and at 
times they seemed even to pass this The above named 
men were relieved from time to time by other members of 
the I elephone Detail so that all had their share of work 

So far. mention has been made only of these men for 
their work with the telephone. Besides knowing tele- 
phone work, they were also experts in wig-wag. sema- 
phore, signal-rocket, projector and telegraph work. 

However, as ninetv-two percent of all communication 
in the war was carried on by telephone, these other 
methods of communication were not very often tised by 
the men of the Detail. 

It was in training camps in the States that the Signal 
Detail laid the foundation for their excellent work in 
[■ranee. On the range at Camp Sheridan and on various 
problems in which the Battery took part, the signal 
detail i^lave^l its part as an integral and efiicient part of 
the Battery machine. 

Captain Leahy's praise of the men in the Telephone 
Detail was not flattery — it was credit justly due them 
and hard-earned 



Do you remember Bennv' [fewman's spurs on the bor- 
der^ 

+ * + * 

Do you remember B Battery's "only front" at Laimont .' 

* * * * 

Do you remember "Soldier rise and shine^" 

* * * + 
Do you remember Louise ■ 



Page 112 



The Red Guidon 



Bar- le- Due 



ONE of the few pleasures tlie batterymen enjoyed while 
in Camp du Chanois above Rambluzin. France, was 
an occasional trip to the city of Bar-le-Duc. The scenery 
along the road to that quaint little city will be remem- 
bered as some of the most picturesque seen in France, 

From the start of the trip at Heippes to the end at 
[Boulevard de la Roehelle in the city, it was a continuous 
panorama of beautiful landscapes. The rolling hills, 
w ith their exenh planted rows of trees, the e\cr w milling 
road whose route defied all surveys and covered three 
kilometers in going one in any general direction, and the 
little \xd thatched foresters' huts sitting snuglv m the 
hillsieles. It must be that the brench people in building 
that road, built it in such a manner that none of the 
beauty of the landscape should escape the notice ol the 
traveler. 

Although the little railroai.1 that connected liar-lc-L5uc 
and Verdun was in running order at the time, none of 
the hoys ever depended on it as a means of transporta- 
tion, relying, rather on the American motor trucks 
that were so numerous on the wini-ling macai.lam road. 
It was always possible to hop on a truck bound for, or 
in the general direction of Bar-lc-Duc and Just as easy 
to get one boun^l for \ erdun on the journey back to 
camp, 

L'pon the arrival in the cit\' the usual rendezvous was 
the ^ . M, (", A, headquarters in the main street. There 
the bovs could get hot chocolate and sandwiches, cigar- 
ettes and occasionalK' .some canLlv 1 here also, they 
could be ciirected to all the places ol interest m the city 
and after the stores were all closed ani-l the city went to 
sleep the ^', M. C, A, furnishcel a cot for the weary 
tourist soldiers. 



The Chateau du Bar was one of the most notable 
places in this city. Surrounded h\ a moat of the 1 3th 
century type, it occupied a very conspicuous place on 
the city's topography. It had been the home of all the 
old Dukes of Bar before that Duchy became a part of 
the Republic of 1" ranee 

(.")ther interesting places were the Military School and 
the Seminary on the top of the hill in what is known as 
the "Le Vieu.x Bar le Due." 

1 he canal of the factories (Canal des Usines) too, 
was an oijidity to the B Battery tourists whose idea of 
canals was limiteel to the Ohio canal that runs so freely 
through Akron. O. This canal of the factories seemed to 
be forced from one side of the city to the other as if no 
one wantCLl it and the struggling stream was pushed 
between houses, under buildings ani.1 in one instance at 
least, over a building. 

Of course the stores of the city oflered an opportunity 
for the bo\s to spend some of the francs that had been 
accumulating while they were up in the woods. No 
doubt there are many articles in the citv' of Akron today 
that were bought in Bar-le-Duc during B Battery's stay 
in that district. (In fact it is due to the stores of Bar- 
le-Duc that this book got its start in f-rance, for it was 
there that the first manuscript paper was purchased, ) 
The people and merchants of Bar-le-Duc were of a much 
higher class than those of anv' other citv' the batterymen 
hai.1 V isited up to that time. 

The 15th century cathedral of Notre Dame, where 
some of the boys attended Mass when on a Sunday 
pass, also attracted attention. Indeed, anything that 
was old was a sight for the Americans whose native land 
haLl not been thought of, when most of the chateau.x and 
cathcLlrals of Irancc were bein'i built. 



Informal Target Praetiee 



' I 'HFRE were two men in the Battery who, if they had 
-^ been permitted to continue their practice, might 
have become expert pistol shots Ihev' were Corporal 
J. B. Kelly and Sergeant j. N, Shere. On the front above 
St. Genevieve these two begged, borrowed and swiped 
all the lortidci-l ammunition in the neighborhood and 
every da\' lound them out at target practice. Orders 
had been issLied forbieiding the discharging of firearms 
unless there were Heinies in the neighborhooLl 



But what were orcfers compared to much needed 
target practice'' There had been rumors that German 
patrols had slipped past the Iront lines ani.1 were hiding 
near the Battery positions so that it is possible that the 
two "joes " were after them. 

One day Captain Leahy found the duet at their daily 
pastime and straightway confiscated their pistols 
They were eventually returned to them but their vision 
of becoming pistol experts were, for the time, ciispellc^l 



Do you remember "Extra Duty^' 



Do you remember guard duty in the tree at the 



front ' 




Mjm 



^'T)ROBABL'^' the hardest fighting being done hy any 
-L Americans m the final hour was that which en- 
gaged the troops of the 2Sth, ^~>2nd, Slst and 7th Di\isions 
with the Second Army who launched a fire eating attack 
above Vigneuiles just at dawn on the 1 1th . _ .," 

The abo\e is a quotation from the Stars and Stripes, 
the official paper of the A, E. F., issue of No\ember 1\ 
1918, and is gi\en here because the 28th Di\ision haid- 
fighting and hard-hitting Penns>l\ania National Guard, 
was at that time minus its own artiller\men anel their 
places were being taken by the 134th f-'ield Artillery, of 
Ohio. The Ohio men had been there since October 28th 
when they moved up by way of Apremont in the St. Mihiel 
salient. Regimental Headquarters and Battery B Echel- 
ons were established at Vigneuiles anel on the night of 
the 28th the first platoon of the Batter\ mox ed into 
position, followed on the night of the 2'-")th by the third 
and fourth sections. [^a>break of the lOth lotind all 
four guns in position in the woods abo\e the St. f,ouis 
farm, four kilometers north of Vigneuiles and one kilo- 
meter from the N'erdun road. 

Then followed days of heart-breaking w(.)rk, days of 
hurling "beaucoup" scrap-iron over to I'lit: and days of 
listening to the "whee-e-e-e bang" of high-e,\plosi\es 
sent back at us with his compliments. Ihere was one 
stretch of ninety-six hours in which the firing batter\- 
had less than ten hours sleep: most of it spent in carrying 
tons and tons of ammunition, stumbling thrcuigh the dark- 
ness into shell holes, and out of 'em, and walking miles 
ol duck-board ; dragging the pieces out of their positions 
a halt a mile or so through F-rench mud firing a barrage and 
pulling 'em back again, stumbling otit of a warm dug-otit 
at four in the morning into the cold and drizzling ram to 
fire a barrage that lasted well into the morning. Days 
so busy that no one knew when the ne.xt meal was coming: 
nights spent on a little platform high up in a tree with 
eyes straining at a spot thirty degrees from Magnetic 
North, watching for the red rocket that meant that the 
doughboys were "going o\er " anel wanteel otir rain of 
high explosi\es in front of them: nights when the drivers 
slept "full-pack" m the stables, not knowing when they 
had to get otit and sling harness on a pair of horses in the 
dark, hitch into the limbers and dri\e out after ammuni- 
tion, days when the e\er-present query, "When is the 



mail coming up." ga\e way to a whole-hearted, "When 
do we eat," which brings us tip to the morning of the Kith 
of Noxember 

Something big was imi^endmg that morning, every- 
Ixxly knew it anel lelt it. l{\er since ela\ break, long before 
the gra\' mist was out of the woixls, long lines of dough- 
boys had miuched full-pack past the Battery position 
up to the front. Regiment after regiment, a seemingly 
unending procession of them \laehine-gun battalions 
with their i.lump\' little carts, ^Irawn by mules, ration 
wagons. tra\ cling kitchens anel trtiek loa^ls of ammunition : 
two batteries of "hea\ les" one of six inch rifles, the other 
a SIX inch howitzer battery of the >()?rd I-ield Artillery 
tractor-elrawn, rumbled past; tanks, lour of them, huge, 
grey-souled monsters Itimbered into the ^listance .All 
day long they came throunh the huilI infantr\\ artillerv, 
tanks, etc 

B BatteiN adjusteLl that afternoon, on a new target. 
After exening mess. |ust as night was falling the section- 
chief were or>.lereel to re|iort to "Veranda — Captain 
Leahy's dug-out khey came back, each of them with 
a huge barrage sheet that Bill wotikl ha\e said. "Is \ ery 
intrikatc. Mable'" "Two shots a minute, sweeping — 
and an increase in range for every minute — to last two 
hours at least — further duration and zero hour to come 
down later from Regimental Headquarters. 

The night of the Iflth — the e\ening before the day 
for which armies of the world had been waiting and 
fighting; the end of the war only fifteen hours away and 
B flattery stiblimeK tinconsciotis of it. khe men knew 
that Austria was "fjnee" that a group of Germany s 
representati\es were to confer with General f'och in 
regarel to an armistice, but the>' were okl-timers and 
rather leary, so many, many times hael the>' heard that 
"stuff " before. The boys knew the\ hael a big barrage 
to lire in the morning and that it woiikl probably come 
oil at fi\e () clock, so they descended into their several 
dug-otits an^l pulled their blankets o\ er their several hob- 
nails antl nuiLldv shirts, and went to sleep 

1 he morning of the ele\ enth came w ith sunshine 
streaming past the gas-blanket into the doorway of the 
first section ekig-out A vawn from someone: 

"Hey, 1 tib, what time is it ' 
Another yawn, a grunt and then — 



The Red Guidon 



Page 175 



"Half-past se\en. What in thunder liappencd to the 
barrage!"" 

Eight o'clock and breakfast broLight a little light on 
the subject, but not much. All that the telephone detail 
knew was that the zero hour had ne\'er been sent from 
Regimental Headqtiarters. and that it might be down 
later in the day. Nine o'clock, nine-thirty and ten and 
still no intimation that our job was so nearly finished: 
in a little patch of sunlight near the second section gun. 
Bill Owens was washing out a shirt; the third section 
was digging a trail hole, trying to get a new range of 
thirty-two degrees; a wisp of smoke came from the 
kitchen : 

At ten-fort\- the telephone biizzed in the detail dug- 
out. Carl Truby was on duty and he plugged m to receive 
a message from Regimental Headquarters: 

"At ten fifty-fi\e — Cease firing." the order said. 

"At ten fifty-nine — All batteries will open for fifty 
seconds. Separate target for each battery." 

The message was taken to Captain L^eahy and five 
minutes later the Battery had it in the shape of data for 
each gun, the deflection, high-e.xplosive, normal. 1. A. L. 
fuse and the range, six shots for each section. 1 he guns 
were laid, bubbles leveled, si.x shells IlisclI ani.1 greased 
breeches opened anei four reports went back from as 
many sergeants. "Ready to fire. Sir " 

At ten fifty-three the telephone buzzed again. 1 rub\ 
plugged in an^l heard a \oice from Regimental Head- 
quarters . 

"Message old boy' And i;ne that will knock \our 
eye out. Take this down. Ready' Here goes —Wireless 
Communique \ia Eiffel tower. Hostilities will cease 
upon the whole front from ele\ en o clock Erench time. 
November II. I'-''KS The Allied troops will not cross the 
lines reached on that date and that hour until further 
orders. Signed — Marshal f'^och." 

Ten fifty-fi\e and pandemonium reigned' The chiefs 
of sections were already at the phone, waiting for the 
commani.1 to fire antl it was onl\' a matter of half a minute 
before the news was Hashed to them o\er the wire. Si.x 
shots in fifty seconds and the end of the war at eleven 
o'clock. Could the\- get them off, couki the\ ' l.^oy. 
Howdy! What it took those si.x shots off they were "all 
broke out with." Ten fifty-si.x. the telephone detail men 
were scrambling out of the dtigoLit and running toward 
the fourth section, the nearest piece to them rhe\- 
wanted to be in at the finish. Ten fifty-se\en, all the 
Batterymen hai.1 their eyes glueel to their watches 
"Load" came Llown o\er the phone and four shells slid 
into four guns and lour breech-blocks were slammed. 
Every ten seconds a \oice somewhere "What time is it 
now^" Ten fifty-eight- Fen fift\-eight and a half — 
Ten fifty-nine'" 

"Bang! " .And the\ were olf. A crash an^l a re\er- 
berating roar and the air-splitting din started. The noi.se 
filled the woods, and the ground trembled, it was as if 



all the artillery in the world were firing at once, and since 
nearly every Battery in every regiment, in e\ery brigade 
was doing the same thing, they were. Wa\e after wave 
of sound, it was ear-splitting. And then, all of a sudden, 
it died away as suddenly as it started; the last shot of the 
Battery went off, "a hea\y" got the last shot in a second 
late; the "put-put-put ' of a machine gunner finishing 
up his career, a few,' faint rifie cracks as the doughboys 
woun^l up in a burst of glory an^l then — silence. 

Silence' After four years of the mutter and rumble of 
big guns on the front ; a silence so strange after the weeks 
of far-away firing and nearer crashes that it was almost 
unbeliexable and uncanny. It hung heavy and oppres- 
sive. The front, and nothing but the sighing of the 
wind as it swept through the bare trees, the rustle of 
autumn lea\'es as they fluttered to the ground; the drip 
of water on brush and the rattle of wheels on a distant 
road. Silence, that, please God, will last through all 
Eternity! And for B Battery and the A. E. E. and their 
Allies — "Einis la Guerre." 

f-irst Section — Sergeant R. B. Newman, was at the 
phone when the last shots went off C'orporal R. C 
Thompson, was gunner, and Corporal "Mutt" Bausman 
acted as No. 1. "Mike" Shepherd, No. 2. slammed them 
into the breech, and "Tub" L^amiell put in the fuses, and 
was assisted in these last sad rites b\ Bob Wiener and 
\'ic Cjuinther. Harold .\loock missed out, he was back 
at echelon taking a bath,— he said he was sorry, but he 
certainly needed it. 

Second Section — Sergeant "Duke ^ orks gang the\ 
weren t satisfied with six shots; they had to go ahead and 
fire ten. "Tres Bien'" Corporal Verne Ritter laid the 
gun, t icxjrge White liiei.1 the first shot. Don C.ochran 
euit ol the telephone detail, the second. \Vhite\ sent the 
third, fourth antl fifth awa>'. Sergeant ^'ork pLilled the 
string on the si.xth and \\ hite\ firei.1 the last foLir ( )ther 
men on the gun-crew were Bill Mui|^h\, Martin Shere, 
Harry .Moore and L3ill Owens 

Thnxl Section — Sergeant "Pat' Lynch, tjunner ('or- 
poral Cjcorge N\camp, the\ used to call this bir^l "Par- 
ahsis" until the day at the Camp de Sougc range when 
he knockei.1 o\ er lour trees in as man\ shots, m as many 
seconds. 1 hen he was known as "Speed Little old 
George Couchey one of the best No. Is that e\er pLilled 
a lanyard, sent all six shots to 1 ieinic ( )n the louith 
shot they raised the range ti) thirt\-two i.legrees. which 
explains the mystery of the lone shot that fell on the 
outskirts ol Berlin Gerald Gru\er was No. 2, Johnn>' 
bunk, who only lorgets Art when the\' start to fire was 
.No, 3 and jim Liennett and Howard Miller worked in 
the ammunition pit. Cjlix Price, best known as "Case\ 
also a member of this crew w as helping .\ looek take a bath 
on the last day. 

f-'ourth Section — Sergeant Don Scott. Corporal U.d. 
.McCollum was gunner. Ihis gun was the nearest to the 
(Continued on Next Pagel 




HAVE u look at C.lilT Schnakc, I hurman Stai.ii.lt and 
(jeori;e Miller, sole agents of and distributors ot 
mtistardgas talk while the Battery was in [Tance prepar- 
ing to go to the front. 

The old gas non-coms, the boys who made "one hour 
of gas" famous. Corporals Schnake and Staudt useel to 
make the boys play drop the paddle and pass the buck. 

and Corporal 
Miller talked to 
them about the 
scientific gas re- 
searches he had 
made at school 
in Paris. '1 he gas 
non-coms had 
their time at hat 
at Camp 1.I e 
Souge when the whole Batter\' marched and pla\ed 
games behind gas masks that nearK' pincheel their laces 
out of shape. 

After the Batter\ went into position on the front, 
the gas situation impro\ei.l l~>()wn m the sector where 
the Battery first located its guns Heinie seemed to ha\e 
run out of gas just before the Akron outfit got there 
On the front e\ery Battery soldier was cc|uipped with a 
new gas-mask and had the Battery ran into a dozen gas 
attacks it is doubtful if anyone would ha\e been gassed, 
1 hose gas days at Camp SheriLlan and de Souge were 
disagreeable ones for the Batterymen as well as the gas 
experts, but it was pretty generally conceded Battery B 
was ready when it reached the Iront. to weather the worst 
gas attack Fritz might put across. 

There was a time when the bo\ s wouki point w ith glee 
to the lact that ( "orporal StauLit was the first man in the 
Battery to be gassed. He was in fact one of the first. 
Thurman and about twent\' others inhaled gasolene 
lumes on a truck rielc one night antl were nearK' under 
when the trip was o\er The truck in which the boys 
tra\eled was co\ered. and the lumes escaped from the 
exhaust through the floor of the truck. The story was 
a good one tor a while in brance. 

Now that the war is over and the Battery is home 
again it might be sale to disclose a few of the military 
secrets regarding delensive gas warfare as studied anel 
practiced b>- the Battery s non-coms in France. 

Corporal Staudt in gning the scientific reasons for 
the selection of Corporals Schnake and Miller for gas 
non-coms said that in the first place Schnake's extreme 
height wiis considered, in a gas cloud ;ittaek Schnake 



being tall anel traineel to keep his head up for gas, would 
be first to detect the gas in a cloud attack. He could 
sense the first high wa\'es and by the time the gas begun 
to settle to the le\ el of the rest of the men he had warned 
them 

C]eorge Miller on the other hanel was picked because 
he was one of the shortest men in the Battery. George 
was built more like a "Happy" Williams, was picked to 
watch lor gas shells. The persistency of gas and its 
inclination to hang close to the ground made George 
indispensable for the gas shell job. 

On the front there used to be trouble between the 
gas non-coms and the camouflage men. Corporal Joe 
lvell\- and Norman I-uchs, The gas men said Fuchs and 
Kelly used their gas curtains in the dug-outs for bed 
blankets. 

I he camoufiage men made counter charges to the 
effect the gas men used camoufiage material from gun 
positions to fill their bcel ticks. Corporal Schnake used 
to accuse some ol the second section cannoneers of using 
tubes of "sag," a gas antidote for the body, to wash their 
teeth, 

1 he gas department of the Battery in France was one 
the bo\s will long remember — Corporals Schnake, Staudt 
and Miller 



"11 11 11" and B Battery 

(Continued From Page 175) 

iletail and telephone elug-out anel the\ were all there 
lighting for a chance to pull the lanyard like a bunch of 
school kids. Old man Lee. acting No. I got the first one 
away, and Tommy Michael the second, I he third went 
to "Skeets Werner ol the same out lit and Sergeant 
"Scotty" co\ered one car anel lircd the loLirth. Tom 
Michael fired the filth and the sixth and last went to a 
member of the regular gun-crew. "Mishawaka" Fxlwarcls. 
Ralph Reddington eoxered himself w ith glory by inserting 
the fuses: the two other members of the fmurth section 
gun-crew "Red Hogue anv.1 "Spooks Fulmer, were not 
there It was saiel they fotind a rille that morning and 
were up with the ■.loLighboys, trying to get themseh'es a 
German b\ the direct mcthoeP 

Captain Leahy ani.1 Lietitcnant .Myers were the 
ofTicers who sent down the i.lata lor the last "big show." 



Do you remember French cigar and cigarette lighters'? 



The Red Guidon 



Page 177 



The Munitions Man 



THh Ammunition Corporal in peace times may have 
been a prett\- soft job, but on the Iront in France 
with the big show on it was an\thing but a snap. Russell 
Lathomar took care of the Battery's supply of ammu- 
nition, and to his credit, be it saiLl, the battery ne\er 
ran out, Russ supplied the guns with "beaucoup" 
scrap-iron and the guns supplied it to brit:. Day after 
day. Russ and his note book would be around checking 
shells, "Normal and O, E."; "fuses black, white, red 
and I. A, L," Night after night when a long line of 
ammunition trucks came lumbering up the road, Russ 



and a detail wotild be on the job to unload them. How 
the men lIkI dread a \oice coming down into a dug-out 
on a cold black night. "Two men for ammunition detail," 
for they knew it meant seseral hours work in the rain 
and mud, hauling ammunition boxes. But, whereas the 
men could always take turns in going, Russ always had 
to be there. 

Corporal Lathomar was assisted by R, W, Scott, and 
when Russ left the Battery to become a sergeant at 
Brigade Headquarters, Scotty became Corporal Scott 
and took care of the Battery's ammunition. 



A. Murphy, Private 



ARCHIE \V, Murphy, B Battery's well known can- 
noneer, e.x-railroader, doughlxay, sailor, and philos- 
opher, said he was going to settle in Akron after e\ery- 
thing was o\er. He promised this a few days before the 
battery reached America from brance. 

Private Archie Murphy, There was a magic name in 
the old battery. The most interesting figure that e\er 
stood re\eille in Batter\' B, .Xrehie was always mis- 
understood, he used to sa\' to the boys. He used to 
wish he'd joined the infantry, where his brother was a 
soldier, "The regular arm\ alwa\s appealed to me," 
Murphy always told the non-coms of Battery B when 
after drill details came around. 



Archie made a pretty good soldier according to his 
superiors. Accustomed to life in the open amongst 
cowboys of Montana, the harvest hands of Iowa, and 
the railroad men ol PennsyKania. he was fitted phy- 
sically for the strenuous life of the soldier. 

He liked army chow. He never complained like 
other soldiers about the quality of the food or about the 
st\ie in which it was handled. 

■Archie was the first man in Batter\- B to introduce 
the use ol the spur at monkey drill. 

A reliable workman was Archie. He was the soldier 
who. while digging a ditch one day at Camp Sheridan, 
steppei.1 out ol a boot without noticing it. He had been 
too bus\' to miss the boot. 




To yuu, men of Battery B, there is no neeessity to 
speak of the joy that came w ith a letter from home. 
Whether you were on the Border, in a traininf^ eamp or 
in France — you know. 

But, to those who wrote those letters and to whom 
this little volume is dedicated, thei'e should he a word ol 
appreciation and gratitude lor those legular missnes 
which were so eagerly anticipated anel so happiK' receixed, 

"Mail is in!" To the hoys in the army and in hrancc in 
particular, this announcement carried prol'ouHLl signih- 
cance. .'\ letter from home, was of course to he expected 
an^l while many often failed to come as hoped for. there 
were always those letters from home, trom mothers, dads, 
sisters, wixes, sweethearts and friends, all letters Irom 
h( ime 

^ ou who were "those at home" know the great longing 
for mail, the eager way you watched the plcxl^ling postman, 
hoping he would leave you a letter from the one who had 
gone across, the pang of disappointment if he passed hy, 
or the joyous excitement of tearing open the envelope to 
read "his" words, his commonplaces becoming gems of 
literature in your appreciation of his e\ery line, \(>u 
experienccLl that, but you did not experience or appreciate: 

A gun position just a few kilometers from "Heinie." 
dimly lighted dug-outs for homes, the men of the other 
gun-crews \our onl\ neighbors, your 75's your onh' pets. 
Black nights of waiting. King in your bunks, whilst 
listening to the bursting "H. Es" abo\e, or crawling out 



in the mist of early morning to lay a barrage in front of 
your own infantry. 

The quiet of the diiy the waiting, waiting, waiting 
for the word that mail hai.1 come and then — the reading 
of that letter from home, m the ^lug-out l^y a flickering 
candle, or alxne. the sun feebK streaming through the 
lea\es or rain dripping from the branches o\'erhead. 

l^he eager questions of your comrades, the disappoint- 
ment if \'ou dn.1 not ha\e a reply to make, or the 
little exchanges of confidence and greetings from mutual 
acquaintances "I'ou i.lidn't experience: 

The undercurrent of pleasure that was still in the air, 
the rest of the day: the noticeable impro\ement in 
spirits pre\ailing among the bo\s. the general feeling 
that settles down upon e\er>one and then the wait of 
two weeks for the next letter. 

That's what mail meant to the Battery boys "o\er 
there." Pay day and mess-call paled into insignificance 
when mail call was soun^led an^l a letter from home 
marked the beginning of u new period, everything 
dating Irom "mail day. 

To you then, who were responsible tor these bits of 
joy, is due and is here expressed the appreciation and 
gratitude of the bo\s of Battery B and to those letters 
from home ma\ be attributcLl much of the io\ of li\ ing, 
the satisfaction of being in the A B, [■'. and the content- 
ment of your l^oys in I ranee 



"Finis'' 



OXLi thing B [Jattery is grateful for since its return 
from I -ranee is that all its members are finished with 
the word "finis." Of all the French words the A. F. F. 
heard und understooi.1 in F-rance "fini " was the greatest 
hoodoo to the boys. The Battery learned "oui and 
"finis" the first day it landed in France. "I he word seemed 
to be a wieldy one in France It couki be used in a 
negative sense for an\thing the [•"renehman wantetl to 
tell a Liatteryman. 

If a soldier wandered into a brenchman's garden or 



accidentb' walked into his house the brenchman shouted 
"fini." .And if a soldier asked for \in blanc. or grapes, 
or candles, or tobacco or cognac or anything else and the 
storekeeper didn't ha\e the article he would say "fini." 
Fhe bo\s alwa\s supposed the word meant "finish." 
.A wineroom barkeep who was not allowed to open her 
place until ftvc o'clock tokl the soldiers "fini as thotigh 
she had just sold out 

Many a hungr\ B Battcr\man in 1 ranee cursed the 
I'rench for using tlu- worLl 'linr on them 



Fish Mcl^celey when he returned a lost purse containin;; 
2000 francs for a 5 franc reward. 



Fish joe Schnitrler when he lost the train at Limoges, 
b ranee. 









YOV who ma\' reai.1 this hook will lia\ e loiini-l the 
praises sunt; ol those men who were with the firing 
Battery at the front, hut what ot the Heheloners — the 
hoys who stayeel hchind waitinfj;, hoping, reach' for a 
chanee to {:;o loi'warel —eager to get on an ammunition 
detail and surfeited with idleness, chafing under the 
monotony of lile in echelon'' 

These hoys did not handle the ammunition, pull a 
lanyard, nor sight a piece, but their part was far liom 
pleasant To sit idh' by is perhaps more trying than the 
most fatiguing labor so a worel ol what the>' were doing, 
while their comrades were throwing scrap-iron Heinie- 
v,'ards. 

1 he first echelon went down m the duiries ol those 
who stayed there, as Pneumonia Hollow number one, 
and It well befitted the name. 

It lay in a narrow \alle\'. hemmeLl in on either side b\ 
high wooeled hills where the sun cIkI not appear until 
mid-lorenoon. an^l where hea\> mists lay like a blanket 
among the trees until near noon. Situated as it was. in 
spite ol a perioLl ol excellent weather, the miiLl ne\er 
dried, and shelter tents were perforce pitched on the 
steep hillside where it was necessary to dig a shell out ol 
the side of the slope in order to pre\ent rolling or slitling 
clown hill, when asleep 

Ifere the\' stayed lor perhaps a week, eating ani-1 
sleeping their onl\ occupation: occasional hikes to Pompe\ 
their onl\' amusement. Nightfall meant no lights, and 
fires out, which left nothing to lIo but turn in for a tweKe 
hour sleep, which was an\thing but restful after one or 
two nights L',\ery undtihilion in the grotmcl became a 
ra\ine or mountain before da\'light would warn them of 
the approach ol breaklast time ( )nl\ the occasional 
Boche plane and the consequent anti-aircralt barrage 
pro\ided relief I rum the tedious and tiresome routine ol 
eat and sleep, 

I here w ere guarels to do. — and w ho of those w ho stood 
a watch there will forget that impenetrable wall ol 
darkness which settled i^low n o\cr those wooels at sunset; 
a gloom so intense that it was oppressne and seemeel to 
bear one dow n w ith its weight 

Howe\er, as in all things else, there was an enel ol this, 
and on the Monday following the Batter\'s arn\al. the 
echelon was mo\ed to Millery. 



.\lillery was a small, quiet and cxcecLlingly tlirty 
\illage situated on the Moselle ii\er 1 he rner flowing 
sw iftly by and the hills beyond. I\ ing peaceful and shining 
in the rare intervals of sunshine, lent a strange contrast 
to the muLieK' streets anel unkept cotii t-\arLls abf)ut the 
\ illage 

i he Battery kitchen was installeel in a former grain 
ele\ator. and here George Curr\' and his squad of culinary 
artists passed out copious quantities of dehydrated soup, 
\ aried at inter\als by less generous portions of steak and 
"frog " fries. 

I he men were billeted here and there in attics and 
other rooms that were a\ailable. as man>' as could be 
comlortabh' taken care of in each place. Their beds to 
a large extent make-shifts ol e\ er\ character, brought 
into use without thought or fear ol what species of insect 
the\ might contain Small wonkier then that a number 
ol the boys acloptcel souxenirs in the way ol cooties or 
similar li\e stock 

Fo aeld to the charms of the place, there was a persis- 
tent determination on the part of ) Plu\ itis to remo\ e the 
htulI Irom the streets, since the natnes were \ ei \ indiffer- 
ent about It. but e\en a week of rain a\ailei.l little except 
to make the slime a little more slimy, if that were possible. 

It ma\ ha\e been the weather or a combination of 
all these things that lIcn eloped the "crabbers" society, 
for such It most assureell\ was I-ach day, in the billet 
occupie^l by the "Li C" tletails, the first. Seconal anel 
third sections, a number ol \ery accomplisheel crab 
artists congregated about the impro\ ised stoxe and Irom 
breakfast to dinner, from ^fmner to supper an^l from 
supper to bcel time, beast, man and inanimate object 
suflered alike uni.ler the eliscussions that took place. 

I he end ol the week lounel another mo\ e m progress, 
ani-l on Sunelay trucks rolle^l in. were loaelcel antl pulleel 
out lor C'amp Quest, near I oul Due to a misun^ler- 
standing on this occasion, man\ of the men had thrown 
their packs upon the trucks, onh' to fini^l themsehes left 
behind, "sans" mess kit, "sans blankets anel thereby 
hangs a tale 

In the afternoon a part\ was lormecl of these un- 
fortunates and about one o'clock they set forth in a 
elrizzling rain to fmef their equipment FhcN' plodded 
through the thin mud on the road until they reached 
Marbache. knowing \ery little of their destination except 



Page lS(i 



The Red (iiiidon 



that it was Camp Quest and somewhcic ncai' Rozicres. 
At \Iarhachc, ha\ing located the Toul road they sought 
the shelter of the Y M. C. A. where they refreshed them- 
selves with those delicaeies which the '"i" could furnish, 
and again took up the journey. On this busy Toul road, 
hovve\er, it was not difficult to get a lift and soon all but 
a few haLl caught passing trucks an^l rode until the road 
sign pointed to Rozieres. Alighting as best they coukl 
from the mo\ing truck, their forces were remustered anel 
they adxanced on Roricres, onl\ to fmel that there was no 
Camp Quest known of thereabouts. Here was a dilemma. 

Supply Sergeant "Bob" Berrington came along Just 
then with a wagon train, also searching for the camp. so. 
ha\ ing explored the one road without success, there was 
nothing left to do, but to take the Toul road again, and 
try their kick, kortune smiled here howexer. for soon 
it was learned from a passing truck that they were on the 
right road, and motor trucks being plentiful, it was 
possible for a number of the men to get another lift which 
carried them on toward, and beyond their goal. Howe\'er, 
acting on a hunch they clambered out, and walking back 
half a mile were sent along the right roaLl, through the 
advice of two men from A E-^atter\- who ha^l come earlier 
in the day. 

Nighttime, therefore, found the majoiitN' of them sale 
in the harbor, but se\eral, too tired to go further had the 
good fortune to get supper from the colored cooks at 
Jaillon, and then maele themseKes comfortable lor the 
night in \acant buildings nearby an^l came o\er to the 
camp in the morning. 

Qn Monday the rest of the Battery arrixeel, an^l soon 
they had settled themseKes comfortably; prepared to 
stay. 1 his was not to be, for late in the w eek, when the 
first drill schcelule was put into effect. mo\ mg orelers were 
recei\ed. That w as on Saturday and packs w ere hurriedly 
made, and after a great deal of confusion they got away to 
the rendez\C)US near .'\\rain\ille, where the trucks were 
to pick them up. Their arrival there occasioned con- 
siderable an.xiety on the part of Lieutenant Kaichen, 
owing to the ^lillicLilty he encountered in getting all the 
men assigned, but finally a sort of order was realized out 
of the chaos, and after a long wait, the trucks rolled up 
and took on their loads of human freight. 

Apremont, the Battery's destination was reached late at 
night, and here was established the third echelon. Sunday 
morning Llawncel clear and frostv', an^l there was the 
music of clinking mess-kits to warn late sleepers that 
breakfast was soon to be ser\ei.l 

Apremont. a mass of ruins. Ia\' nestkxl among se\eral 
\ery high and \ery steep hills — hills lined with trenches 
and barbed wire, dotted with concrete dugouts and ma- 
chine-gun nests, a \ei'itable fortress Here was something 
new, and alter the firing battery had gone forward to 
their positions, the bo\s left behinel found pleasure and 
adventure in exploring the systems of entrenchments, 
while the more adventurous amused themscK es by throw- 



ing hanel grenades found therein Qthers caught passing 
trucks for explorations into unknown country, to St. 
Mihiel, Lerouxille or Commercy. 

In a few days however, there was another move, and 
taking the road through Womville, Buxieres, Buxerulles. 
Heudicourt and up and arounel that steep camouflaged 
German road thev again pitched camp; this time in 
"Pneumonia Hollow No. 2 

Billets were at a premium here, an^l again the boys 
lounel It necessary to flop uneler the canopv' of mother 
nature, but by that time, open air beds had become the 
custom anel no one mindcel in the least. Ihe next 
morning evervone was bus\' seeking or buikling sheltei'. 
Salvage parties thoroughly policed the ruins left by the 
tk'rmans, when they made their htirried departure during 
the St. .\lihiel elrive. and were rewardeel with stoves and 
other comfort-proviciing material. 

Homes having been built, the okl wanderlust took hold 
ol the bov's, and thev set out to explore their surroundings. 





Iin^ling manv interesting ofijccts which had been built 
by the Cjcrmans Qne of these was an observation post, 
built high in the top of a tree, anel commanding a \iew of 
the surrounding countrv for many miles. 1 here many 
went to watch the air duels, and on one occasion a party 
of three witnessed the destruction (.il a krench balloon. 
These three were in the tower examining the land- 
scape through field glasses when suddenly out of a clear 
sky a German plane dove nose down for a krench observa- 
tion balloon w hich caught unawares was hanging innocent- 
ly about a thousand feet up .As the Cjerman opened 
lire upon the balloon, two white specks appeared falling 
from the basket denoting the hurricel departure ol the 
two observers and as Jesse Sayre remarked, "They didn t 
stop to make their rolls." 1 he i inn was unsuccessful, 
but swinging around anel climbing above the balloon 
again, seemingly without regaivl for the "ptit-put" of 
the machine-guns below him, he i.k)v e again, and as he 
swung around again in a graceful curve anel climbeci 
heavenwards, a rei.1 llame darted from one en^l ol the hLige 
bag. anel soon it was entirelv' envelope^l leaving a trail 
of thick black smoke as it settlcel to the grounel 1 he 
plane hid behind the smoke, to escape the fire Irom below. 



TJ}c Iicd (iiiidon 



Page 181 



but out of the blue, four allied planes appeared, and ga\e 
him a merry chase, which, lasting perhaps half an hour, 
was finally gi\en up as he was lost in the distance and to 
all appearances, safely o\er his own lines. That e\ent 
was perhaps the only ad\enture of this camp, and earl\- 
the following week, the echelon was again moved to 
VigneuUes. 

Vigneulles. where Colonel Bush's Post Command v. as 
located, was the ruins of what max well ha\e been a 
beautiful little village, and which yet allnivlevl plenty of 
comfortable billets an^l plenty of sto\es an^l lirewood. 
Again the air acti\ it\' proxidecl excitement, and in aLkliiion 
each morning served to bring the war a little nearer to 
them because Heinie took acKantage of his long range 
guns to drop a lew o\ er each morning before breakfast, as 
an appetizer. 

The "wheowr bang" of the l^i's or the "swdosh 
blooe\' ' of the 22(J's however was a welcome, though 
perhaps hazardous diversion, an^l at least pro\ ideel a 
topic of conversation. 

\ ignetilles was the last echelon ol the Battery an^l 
perhaps the one that left the best impressions. There 
were interesting places to \ isit, the regimental obser\ ation 
post where a view of the country for miles in all directions 
was to be had. The "chow " too. was rather better than 



it ha^l l.^een, and theie was little grumbling except on 
accoLint of the inaction 

Irom the foregoing, it is not to be understood that 
life in echelon was a bed of thorns, for like every other 
phase of warfare, it haJ its redeeming features. Echelons 
are a necessar\- e\il, not to be scorned by those up front, 
for it was those behind who were responsible for the sup- 
plies going forward on time, ammunition was available 
when needed and from those men in echelon all relicts 
and replacements were drawn. 

W ar IS hell, in any phase, but idleness is a curse and 
more to be shunned than the most intense activity on the 
front. 

To the boys l^ack there, echelon meant nothing, but 
(.lissatisfaction, because it seemed to them that they 
were so useless, so unnecessar\' to the w inning ol the war 
-yet that they were back there ser\ clI to gi\ e confi- 
^lence to those forwarel because they knew the\' were 
being backed up by men w ho were eager and desirous 
of taking their places il necessar\'. 

Let It not be said then, that the men who were com- 
pelkxl to remain in echelon serNc^l no purpose except to 
consume rations — for trtih' '"they also serxe who only 
wait " 




Ob all the heroes we ha\e known, and you can take 
\our pick, there's none who's better known to fame 
than our own "Bathhotise L~)ick, \\ hen the boys came 
back from ^Inlling. a sandy, dusty mob; the\ found the 
bathhouse water hot. and "Vincent on the |ob He 
gathered wood and kept the (ire an^l watchetl the steam 
gauge rise; and chuckled gleefully when Shrank, got soap 
into his eyes. When the fire crackled merrily, when show- 
ers let off steam: the launch saiLl ""good lor Richard, he 
surely is the cream ' l-5ut when the wood suppU ran low 
while Dick lay in a doze, the water would grow icy eokl. 
Fed Richards nearh Iroze. 1 his alwa\s brought an aw lul 
howl. "Doggone that big gold-brick, Ictshold a Unchmg 
party and murder Bathhouse Dick,' 



Another border lad who worked throtigh rain and snow 
and sleet, and burned up all otir garbage, was Incinerator 
Pete. He didn't know the meaning of "caissons right 
about," but showed a \ast ability when Cook Mcl\ee\er'd 
shout, "Hey Sprigle, here's a pail of stuff that you can 
start to boil; if that green wood wont make a fire, \ou 
better get some oil " 

Perhaps his pants were greas\- and his hands all 
smeared with dirt; his heart was surely in his work and 
not upon his shirt ,\nd when the bugler bugled and 
"mess call" filled the street, the (irst man in the mess-lmc 
was Incinerator Pete 

With .\pologies to Walt .Mason 



Page 182 



The Red Guidon 



Hattonchatel 



A TYPICAL little I->ench \ illage with its remnants of 
-^»- quaint and almost ancient architecture, stands paunt 
today in the Pannes region, some few kilometers from 
HeudicoLirt, the former headquarters of the Keystone 
Division hom Penns>l\ania Hattonchatel has with- 
stood terrific shell lire Liurint; the wai', its inhabitants 
lleein.n IVom time to time to escape the onslaught of the 




1 lun until a \ er\' lew remaincLl, to standi with sa'.klcning 
gaze at the awkil destruction wrought upon then homes 
hy the enemy. 

Hattonchatel is onl\ a stone's throw from 1 latton\ illc 
and Vigneulles. both towns lamous for their continue^l 
occupancy hy troops during the war anti the many 
stragetic points carried out in their near \icinit\ \ ig- 
neulles was oecupietl during the I^annes offensixe h\' 
Regimental Headquarters of the I Uth l-'ieki .ArtillerN , 



37th Division. (Ohio) and remained as such until the 
armistice was signed on the ele\-enth day of November, 

1018. 

It was my good fortune to be able some few months 
after the signing of the armistice to pay a visit to the 
scenes of our last engagement at Hattonchatel, Vigneulles 
an^l Hatton\ille and the countr\' thereabouts, and to 
stand in the old gun positions once more, where our 75's 
unloaded plenty ol freight into Heinie s backyard near 
Metz during the siege and where the 1 34th Field Artillery 
won a name lor themselves in the support of the famous 
2Sih Division, composed of National Guard units Irom 
the State of PeniT-ylxania 

.As I stood on the hill aboxe Vigneulles that day. I 
experienced a queer feeling, one ol melancholy and a case 
ol real okl .\merican blues, to see for miles around nothing 
hut ^lest ruction. Spring in Cjod's country and here desola- 
tion 1 lere and there a tree stood making a feeble 
attempt to blossom forth, with its searcit\' of bocK'. the 
ma|orit\ of which had been blown awa\ b\ shell fire 

.\ pra\er came to m\ lips as I turned awa\ from 
Hattonchatel lor otir comrades who laid at rest there in 
the fields ol sunny France, who died heroically for the 
cause, who had come thousands of miles from their 
natixe home tcj make the world sale tor democracy, 
who dn-ln't experience that glorious thrill as we, who had 
been luck\ enough U> sur\i\e, when we gazed on the 
shores of .America after a long absence Those scenes 
will alwa\s linger, some though 1 wouki like to forget; 
others can ne\er be forjzotten. 



B Battery s Prisoners 



TT is, perhaps, not known to all that on one occasion B 
-»- Battery had eight prisoners of war, but such was the 
case, The\- were not Germans, but nevertheless they 
were prisoners and had been such so long that they were 
professionals at it. 

These prisoners were taken single hanLlcd by a B 
Batteryman — David Berson, That they were taken 
after the armistice was signed is of little importance It 
happened like this: 

The firing Batter\' had just returned from the front, 
November 12, and the carriages were standing along the 
shell torn road in Vigneulles with the men awaiting orders 
to move, [^own the road came a motley crew of dis- 
reputable looking mortals in uniforms of three different 
armies, led by Dave Berson. 



As he passed the Liatter\- the bo\s naturally inc|iiired 
what he had, to which Da\e replieel, "Oh, I just found 
some Russian prisoners that's hungry So Da\'e took 
them, indeed, he took them e\ery place until he had them 
fed and on their way to a f'rench camp from which they 
could get back to Russia. 

Da\e. who spoke Russian. Cierman an^l a couple other 
languages fluentK'. told the bo\'s that these Russians had 
been German prisoners. For three \ears they had been 
held and forced to do work of the most dangerous nature, 
such as digging trenches under shell fire. 'When the 
armistice was signed, the Cjcrmans started for home and 
left the l\ans to look out for themselves Luckily they 
found Da\"e and were able to explain their predicament to 
him. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 183 



"Judge" Chapman's Court 



DURING the early days of the creation of the Red Gui- 
don. Gorporal Youngs, the Battery clerk, chanced to 
find one of the stories written for this book, in which he 
was alluded to as a "Jungle Buzzard, ' which to Earl's 
esthetic sense constituted grounds for suit for slander 
Accordingly he instituted proceedings and on the night 
of December 4. in the big barracks at Camp Chanois, 
the case was heard before Judge Chapman The court's 
proceedings are here gi\ en in detail as the \ arious w itnesses 
testified during the course of the evening. 

Court con\ened at b IV Judge Chapman opened 
court, "In the court this exening. keep quiet and as the 
witnesses testify, do not testify rapidly. Speak plainly 
so that the reporter can take this down. All e\ idence 
submitted here this e\ening will be placed in the Rei.1 
Guiefcn and e\ery member of the Batter\' if he is a li\e 
wire will want a cop\' of it Let us please comph with 
this request ; be quiet, listen to the e\ Klence and remember 
what I ha\ c told the witnesses " 

"Mr. Sheriff. >'ou may open the court.' 

" 1 he case which will be taken up at this time is the 
case of the Plaintiff. Earl G. Youngs \s, the defendant, 
the Red Guidon Publishing Company. Incorporated, for 
the following slanderous remark, allegeei to ha\e been 
made concerning the plaintiff. Earl G ^'otings on or 
about the fourth of December. I'^IH 

f'lrst — 1 he said defendant companN is allegcil to 
ha\e used the following language "Earl G Votings is a 
Jungle Buzzard.' 

Second — The plaintiff. Earl G Youngs asks for hft\- 
''O) cartons of Camel cigarettes as damages. Attorneys 
for the plaintiff. John A Faulkner and William H. 
Summers. Defendant sa\s he is not guilt\- .Attorneys 
for the defeni.lant are R. C. Thompson and J. B. Kelly. 
"Mr. Sheriff, you may fill the jury box with jurors at 
this time.' 

Sheriff Arthur Possehl thereupon named the following 
jurors who took their place in the jury bo.\ anti were 
accordingly sworn 

L. 'W'. Deselms. J. N. Shere. Morgan Robertson. 
M. S. Rubright, M W. Bright. P M Lynch and L. D. 
Clark. 

Examination of jurors by plaintiff. 

Plea of defense "Not Guilty. " 

Jur\' examined b\ Mr Thompson for the defense 
1 he jury was sworn in by Judge Chapman, after which 
Attorne\ Summers takes up his plea and examination of 
w Itnesses 

"^our honor and gentlemen of the jury, the plaintiff. 
Earl G Youngs, clerk, B Battery, 1 34th E. A.. — plaintiff 
kindly arise — has come into possession of a certain docu- 
ment which has direct bearing on his high character." 
Objection sustained. Defense — "His idea of what 



constitutes slander is a little mixed up. This case 
applies to his eating capacity alone." 

Judge — "The jury will determine that question." 

Plaintiff resumes— "Ihis document, your honor, was 
soon to be publishcLl b\- the Red Guidon and this docu- 
ment which Mr. Youngs came into possession of alludes 
to him as being a Jungle Buzzard, which, your honor and 
gentlemen of the jury, is detrimental to his reputation, 
as the gentlemen of Battery B will testify, whereas the 
plaintiff demands the destruction of the document, and 
Iffty cartons of cigarettes. That you may fully realize 
the heinousness of this accusation, we quote Daniel 
Webster. With your permission 1 will quote for you: 
'.•\ jungle buzzard is one who when gi\en his first rations, 
wrangles with the K I^. atxl with those in authority in 
the kitchen, complaining about the quantity and ciuality 
of the rations gi\en; who continually endeaxors to capture 
the elusi\e seconds to satisf>- his ra\enous appetite; who 
further grumbles and makes sarcastic remarks concerning 
the fairness of dealing out the rations.' It is our 
earnest tlesire to completely exonerate this man. 

"With the permission of the court. 1 will now rea^l the 
slaULlerous document as mentioned Exhibit .A). And 
this, gentlemen. 1 ma\- sa\'. just while I ha\e it here, this 
IS the heading of the story in the Red Guielon as I under- 
stand It -""khe Massacre of the Battery Mess and Who 
L')idit." by the Battery Cooks. Gentlemen of the jury. I 
ha\e here the ^locument wherein the plaintiff was alluded 
to as the worst of jungle buzzards, and I will now call to 
the standi. Mr. Gutlan^l." 

All witnesses being present, stood and were sworn 
simLiltaneously. 

"Mr. Outland. in all statements that >ou make, please 
be clear and concise. Mr. Outland. is it true that you 
are employed in the kitchen of Battery B?" 

"It is. sir."' 

"L^o your duties include cooking and the handling of 
the 1\. P.^" 

■"'t'es." 

"While Llistributing rations to the boys of Battery B, 
did you at any time see the plaintiff. Mr, Youngs, come 
through the line for seconds^"" 

"No." 

"Did you e\er hear Mr. Youngs complain. Mr. Out- 
land, about the quality or quantity of food^" 

"No." 

'"DrI you e\er hear him swear at the K. P. or ask for 
more ' ' 

"No. sir. " 

"Mr ('>Litlani.l. in \our candid opinion, as you see it. 
do you think Mr Youngs a buzzard^ " 

"No. " 



Page 18i 



The lied (hiidon 



Plaintiff: 

"Mr. Mason, is it not true that you are employed as a 
cook in Battery B^" 

'"^'es, sir." 

"While working in the kitchen or assisting the K. P. 
with the rations, did Mr. ^'oungs ever complain^" 

"No, sir." 

"Is it not true that one Sunday night the Battery had 
rice and slum^" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Mr. Mason, is it not true that on last Sunday night 
you offered the plaintiff, Mr. ^'oungs. any amount of 
doughnuts he wanted''" 

"I did." 

"Tell the court just how many doughnuts the plain- 
tiff took." 

"He took only two. 1 offercLl him more, but he would 
not take them." 

"Mr. Mason, is it not true that on many occasions 
while Mr. "^'oungs stood in the line you noticed the small 
amount on his mess-kit and offered him more^'" 

"1 did, hut he would not accept." 

Defense : 

"1 understand you offered Mr. Youngs any amount 
ol doughnuts. How many did he take^" 

"He took two." 

"Are doughnuts, Mr. Mason, considered a delicacy 
in the army'" 

"I do not know," 

"They are not made very often'" 

"No, sir." 

"How many times in France?" 

"Twice." 

"Are they a delicacy in ci\il lilV" 

"I don't know, sir." 

"Mr. Mason, do you stand there am.! tell these men 
that an>- sane man in the United States Army after 
spending three months in this league, would only take 
two of them''" 

"i es, sir." 

"Well, I rest my case." (With considerable irony.) 

Plaintiff: 

"Will the plaintiff. Mr. "I'oungs, please take the stand' 

Mr. Youngs, on the night that you were offered 
any amount of doughnuts that you wished, how many 
did you take'" 

"1 took two." 

"Describe how big the doughnuts were." 

"They were of average sire. Ordinary si:c hole." 

"Were they thin and puffy'" 

"I do not remember." 

Defense : 

"Mr. Youngs, do you ever feel like you could eat 
more than two doughnuts in the army'" 

"The occasion might arise when I could cat more than 
two." 



"Were you not feeling well'" 
"Perfectly healthy." 
"But you could ha\e eaten more''" 
"I cared for no more," 

"Do you take your mess with the rest of the men in 
the line or from the inside of the mess-hall'" 
"On the night mentioned— in the kitchen," 
"Early or late'" 
"Neither." 
"Why not lust'" 
"Because it is not my habit." 

"Ha\'e vou an\ particular a\ersion to doughnuts''" 
"No." 

"But \ou'd rather have doughnuts than a dish of 
beans'" 

""^'es, sir," 

"^'ou were entirch' all right when you turned down 
the doughnuts'" 
"^'es, sir," 

"N'ir. Truby will now take the stand." 
"How long have you known the plaintiff, \ Ir. ''I'oungs'" 
"E\'er since he has been in the Battery " 
"To your knowledge, Mr. 1 ruby, and being associated 
with him as closely as you are, did you ever see Mr. ^'oungs 
o\ereat himself or take more than ordinary rations'" 
"No, sir." 

"At the State F-arm, will \ou kniLlK tell the court 
just how much Mr. Votings ate'" 
"Very little — an ordinary meal," 

(E.xhibit B) — offerei.:! for inspection and recognized as 
belonging to Mr. Youngs. 

"Mr. Truby. when did Mr 'I'oungs gi\e you this belt'" 
"At inspection at Souge " 

"He gave you that belt at Souge' Wh\- did you not 
wear it'" 

"Too small." 
"Why too small ''" 
"Couldn't get it on." 

"Do you think an\ man that was a buzzard could 
get into that belt '" 
"I 6o not" 

"There is a belt worn b\- a jungle buzzard. Will you 
kindly compare the size of the two belts' " 

Belt again as long as (E.xhibit B) brought forth and 
handed to jury. 
Defense : 

"What jungle buzzard wears that ix'lt' " 
"Stephen Marvin." (Laughter.) 
Plaintiff: 

""^'our honor, the judge and gentlemen of the jury, 
you saw the length of these belts, that is a belt worn by 
Mr, Votings: this b\' a jungle buzzard I hat will do" 
Defense: 

"Does that belt seem to be in good condition' " 
"Fairly good," 
"Do vou know anv reason wh\' he ga\-e vou that belt'" 



The Red Guidon 



Page 18.') 



"He loaned it to me and I never ga\e it hack." 

"How far was it to the State Farm^" 

"Three and one-hail miles" 

"1 understand you ran out there^ ' 

"No, we walked " 

"^'ou ate when you ^ot there ^" 

"Yes, sir." 

"You went three and one-hall miles lor lood!'" 

"^'es, sir," 

"That's all." 

"Mr. Schnitzlcr. is it not true that ynu ha\e heen 
connected with the canteen^" 

Court here interrupted b\' witness inquiring as to 
witness fee and demanding same at once. Quieted with 
assurance that he wouki i'ecei\e his fee. 

"Were you not acti\elv connected with the canteen 
at Camp Perry ^" 

"^'es, sir." 

"Did you at any time see the plaintiff, Mr ^'oungs, 
purchase anything from you""" 

"No, he was a bad customer, 1 don't kmiw what was 
the matter with him " 

"Did \ Ir. "^ oungs c\ er come to you ani.1 puichase cakes, 
candy, etc, at the canteen at Fort Benjamin 1 larnson''" 

"No, sir. 1 think the son-of-a-gtin star\ed. He 
never bought anything and 1 had good goods, too." 

"What was youi" capacity at Camp Sheiii.lan^" 

"In the canteen " 

"Tell the court, if \ou please, just what \ou sokl at 
Camp Sheridan in the line of eats." 

"Cakes, candy, nuts — most an\thing. fine goods, 
good quality — cheap!" 

"Did you e\er see the plaintiff in your establishment 
at Camp Sheridan to biiy eats as the other members of 
the Battery did'" 

"No, sir. He was a tight wad Here. Mr, (!lark, 
how about the two trancs \c)u owe me' 

"When you came to f- ranee at Camp (^hanoi.s, did 
Mr, ^'oungs e\er patronize NotF ' 

"No, sir " 

"Mr, Kalaher, arc you not president ol the .Ancient 
Order of Jungle Buzrarcls'' ' 

"No, sir. Not president, but a member " 

"Ha\e you not at times endeaxored to get .\lr. 'l oungs 
to join^" 

"^'es, sir, but he relused," 

(E.xhibit C) — Cigarette butt badly battercxi 

Witness: — "There is a bribe that wotild inlluence any 
great jungle buzzard like me, a cigarette butt. 

As exhibit is passed to jur\', witness exclaimed — 
"Don't forget, 1 want that back" 

"As a member of the organization ol l~iuzzai\ls, did 
you at any time e\er see .Mr 'l oungs in Nour ranks'" 

"No, sir." 

Defense did not cross question and Plaintill rested case. 

Witness for the Lielense: 



"What is your name''" 

"Lamiell." 

"When tlid >ou join the [battery' " 

"F'lfteen months ago." 

'"^'oti were in the Battery at Camp Sheridan' ' 

""^'es, sir. " 

'"i'ou came across when the Batter\- saik\l for France''" 

"Yes, on H, M, S. Nestor." 

"In that connection, you acted in what capacity, Mr. 
Lamiell'"' 

"On the gun-crew. " 

"Can \ou tell the jliia where the gtin was located'" 

"In the rear of the ship, on the back porch, just 
behind the Chinese galle\ 

"DilI these Chinese run an\ kind ol a canteen here' " 

"1 hey sold cakes. ' 

"Anything else'" 

"No, sir." 

"'foil were in a position to know just w Ikt came up to 
the canteen' " 

"Yes," 

"lell the jur\' who frequentci.1 the place the most." 

"('nl\ one m particular, Mr Youngs " 

"^ ou ne\ er thought that his attitude was such that 
he wanteel the rest of the Batter\ to know '" 

"No, sir He was \er\' sneaking " 

">'ou ate with the Batter> m the hold'" 

"The first two da\s I ^lidn't eat much — onl\ stipposed 
to eat" 

".Ani.1 was Mr Youngs there' ' 

'"^ es, when they serxecl tripe " 

"DilI Mr ^ oungs eat tripe'" 

"All of It," 

"Do you think an\ man who wdliIcI eat tripe on board 
ship a jtingle buzzard' " 

""\'es, sir." 

Plaintiff 

"How man\- times tli^l \ou see the plamtill. .Mr. 
"Youngs, go down into this galle\' to ptirchase such lood' 

"He diLln't go lIowu there he freqtienteei it almost 
contmualK 

"How man>' times' 

" rwent\-two times perhaps " 

"Were ndu e\er down there' 

"No," ' 

"In what manner tliel he go lIow n ' ' 

"Didn't go dow n, he came on the eleek, kneeled i.lown ^o 
no one coukl see him, slipped mone\ in and cakes came out. 

"Mr, Jameson, do \'ou know the plaintiff. Earl G. 
^ 'oungs''' 

"CertainK 

"Where ^IilI \ou last see him'" 

"I see him e\ er\- Lla\- Ihe last time that 1 noticed 
him m partictilar was last .Sunda\ 

"Where \ou on K, P, in the Battery last Sunday'" 

'"^'es, sir. I was. " 



Page 186 



The Red Guidon 



"Did you i^i\c him any doughnuts \oursclf'" 

"No. sir." 

"Did you sec anyone gi\c the plaintiff. Mr Youngs, 
any doughnuts'"" 

"No. sir. He was where he eouLI get them himself." 

"Did you see him take some^ ' 

(Hesitated) — "He took some doughnuts." ^'es, sir. 
He was over there eating w hen I was through sei\ing and 
I only saw him take four I imagine he took more." 

"Gentlemen, a former witness sai^l he diel not see 
him take any. We ha\e the statement of this witness 
who says he saw him take four." 

"Mr. Stagg. you know the plaintiff. Mr Youngs'"" 

"'l es. sir." 

"How long^ ' 

"Nineteen months." 
. "When you were bugling, did Mr. "l oungs eome up 
to you at any time and ask you a question^" 

"He did." 

"What was the question'" 

"One day on or before )ul\ P at bort Ben. he asked 
me to blow mess eall so that he eouki hear what it sounded 
like." 

"He askeel nou no more ealls'" 

"No. sir d he onK eall he wanted was mess call." 

Plaint I IT 
Mr. Jackson, when were yoLi m charge of quarters 
last'" 

"Noxember 27." 
Do >'Ou remember, was there st)me military corres- 
pondence on the desk'" 

"(^uite a l^it," 
Some stull pertaining to your duties as Charge of 
Quarters'" 

"^'es. sir," 
What did >()u find there not applying to military 
correspondence'" 

'Mr Youngs asked me U) help out and passed me a 
pa\nill ol the [5attery and had me read off the names, 
numbers of the men in the Battery. 1 found a letter and 
before know ing what it w as read part of it w hich described 
the meal tor 1 hanksgn mg that he expected to ha\e and 
that he hoped to fill up He also maele the remark that 
he didn't think he would get enough " 

Mr Bailsman, when were \<iu in charge ol quarters 
last'" 

"About third da\" m this camp." 
1 he corporal in charge of quarters must stay in the 
room where the Battery clerk sleeps'" 

"^ es. sir " 

(Exhibit A) lor defense. Blackened messd<it lid. 

"Do you know what this is. Mr Bailsman' " 
Bid of a mess-kit. 

"Regulation'" 

"^ es. sir." 

"What state would you say that mess-kit lid was in' ' 



"Damn deplorable." 

"Do \ou recognize that particular mess-kit lid?" 

"I do." 

"Just how''" 

"By the initials on back and by the looks of it — it's 
not like any other lid in the Battery." 

"To whom does it belong'" 

"To Corporal Youngs." 

(Exhibit B) badly battered can of corn w illie, apparent- 
1\ hiilden hurriedly w ith key ready to open. 

"Do you know what this is. Mr. Bailsman'" 

"I do." 

' \\ ill you explain just what it is' " 
Regulation tin ol corned beef." 

"Do you recognize that particular can'" 

"^ cs." 

"Why'" 

"It is not \ery often one will Imd a can with the key 
in that position and the can is battered up." 

"Tell just how this can was found." 

'While going o\er some mail in the Battery office as 
Charge of Quarters, I had occasion to sit down on Youngs' 
bunk and felt something under me When 1 looked this 
can rolled out. e\identl\ hiLklcn in the act of being opened 
which accounts for the key being in that position." 

"Does it belong to Corporal ^'oungs?" 

"Yes. sir." 

(Exhibit C) — turnip showing signs of nibbling. As 
it was passed to the jury, the judge asked the sheriff to 
keep his eye upon the exi^lence 

"Do you know what that is'" 

"I do." 

"Explain." 

"It is a turnip." 

"Do you recognize that particular turnip'" ^'ou 
fouiiLl that turnip, did you not ' 

"I did." 

"Explain." 

"Upon Corporal Youngs' desk." 

"'^'ou recognize that, do you' dhat belongs to Mr. 
Youngs'" 

"It did," 

"That's all" 

"^'oii think from the condition ol it that Mr. 'I'oungs 
had eaten from it from time to time' " 

"Yes." 

Plaintiff: 

"'I'ou were m Charge of Quarters on the 3rd anel you 
loiini.1 this can of corn w illie' " 

"^es." 

"Did you take this away on that ilay' " 

"Idid" 

"Did \oii take this (turnip! away at that time' " 

"1 threw it out the window. " 

"It seems to me that it's pretty muddy about her eand 
there should be some mud on it." 



The Red Guidon 



Page 187 



"I washed it off. No one would helie\e that Mr. 
^'oungs had eaten from it if it were muddy " 

"May I ask you, J\J you rescue this turnip''" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Where^" 

"Ri^ht wiiere I threw it out the window.' 

"Where ^" 

"In the bushes hack ol the RtjJ CkiiLkin office." 

""^'ou threw it back of the Red (juidon''" 

"Sure." 

"That's all" 

"Mr. Murph\', w lien cIkI voli enlist m the ["battery''" 

"April 28." 

"In your capacity as a buck prixate in the Battery, 
ha\e yoti had occasion to ;!;o on K. P. se\eral times^" 

"'I'es, sir." 

"When last'" 

"Just today." 

"^ ou are a member of the Red GuJLkin. are you not ''" 

"I am ' 

"^ OLi knew that the Red Guidon was beinc sued and. 
therefore. \oti thoufj;ht \()u would watch Mr Youngs 
closely toda\' to ascertain whether he really was a 
buzzard^" 

"^'es, sir." 

"Were you in the kitchen all day ■" 

"^■es."' 

"lell what yoLi noticed." 

"I noticed that Mr Youngs was in there in good time 
and long after exeryone was throuj^h When he was 
ready to lea\e he came back and j^ot a piece of toast from 
Sergeant Poling " 

"He took toast after starting to lea\e'" 

"L.ater on he repeated the same performance and this 
e\ening I took particular note ol it." 

"Tell the jur\' what else you noticed''" 

"He had an Linustially large pickle " 

"In your opinion it was undoubtedK the largest 
pickle m the whole pan' 

"It was the largest pickle I ha\e e\er seen 1 do not 
think a pickle could be an\ larger " 

"While at Camp Sheridan, .Alabama. d\d Mr Youngs 
e\'er recei\e any bo.xes from home'" 

"Se\eral." 

"^'ou took note of the number of boxes he rccei\'ed 
because \ou were interested in boxes'" 

' 'les, sir." 
'Who do you think got the most boxes'" 

"Positively Earl ^ oungs recei\ed more than an\one 
else. " 

Plaintiff: 

"Referring to your last statement — as a man in his 
tent, did \()u get yotir share'" 

"I don't remember." 

"But, you do remember that he reeei\ed them' ' 

"'I'es, sir." 



"^'ou say that Mr. ^'oungs was the first in the kitchen 
and the last one out'" 

"The last one. 'I'es, sir." 

"A word about this extremely large pickle -where did 
it come from ' " 

"Out of the pan " 

"Did Mr 'I'oungs reach in and take this pickle him- 
self" 

"As 1 recall it. he pointed to the particular pickle " 

'"Who was on the pickles'" 

"I do not recall " 

"It is the peculiar things that are noticeable^" 

"Taking a large pickle would be noticeable " 

Case was rested and attorne\' made resume of case for 
plaintiff. 

Mr, Summers for the plaintiff, goes over the points- 
the while the courtroom was extremel\- qtiiet. listening 
respectfully and attenti\el\ to all his remarks. The 
beating of the rain upon the roof, the whistle of the w in<.ls 
and the flickering candles in the eddying air within the 
room lent added solemnit\ to the occasion an^l exeiNcne 
seemed to feel the gra\ it\' of the situation 

Following Mr. Summers' statement. Mr 1 hompson 
for the defense. ga\e a \'ery striking resume of the points 
brought out in the evidence and brought his plea to a 
close Viith a classification of btizzarcls — those who are 
openly and boasted buzzards; others that are e\er\- bit 
a buzzard but wish to keep it a secret. His point seemed 
\er\- well taken. He cited that a man who could so 
consistentl\- buzz as the plaintiff apparent!\ had done 
without detection was indeed extremeh clexcr. and it 
would seem that instead of the appellation buzzard being 
cause tor suit for slander, it were on the contrary some- 
what of an honor. 

Mr. Faulkner takes the floor in behalf of the plaintiff, 
and made an impassioned appeal for justice and the clear- 
ing of the good name of his client from the infamous title 
"Buzzard." He pointed out Mr Votings' clean slate, 
his intearity and strength of character, playing upon the 
sympathy and judgment of the jurors alike I le drew a 
picture of the >'oung mans parents bowed down in shame 
at the degradation brought upon their offspring and in a 
last appeal asked that the jury consider his future and that 
in the name of the great American Standard of justice, 
they clear him of that shameful name- a Jungle Buzzard 

.At 8 20 the judge chargCLl the jur\ with prolound 
gravity, striving to impress upon them the seriousness of 
th.e charge and the effect of then I'lnLlings He asked 
them to consider the evidence as given verv' carefully, 
the honestv' and integritv of the plaintiff and above all. 
give careful attention to the L-!xhibits which had been 
shown before the court 

The jury remained out but a short time, returning at 
8 30 finding the defendant ""Not Guiltv . 

Court adjourned. 




THE CHtll/TnA/ 



THAT CAME TO B BATTEEY 



J F 



■ ■■ 



DECEMt^IiR 17th, lOlS, lound 1^ Battery located in 
muddy Irench billets, hiL;h upon a hillslele aho\e the 
\illage of Ramhluzin. about fifteen miles south of X'erdun, 

The holiday season of 1Q18 was at hand an^l apparently 
C.hrrstmas was to be no different from an\' other ela\ in 
the Battery Turkey ani.1 cranberry sauce an^l shows 
might be possifile for the men in the S. O. S . but as for 
the men m the Ixitterx, these were but a memory of 
other years. 

On the afternoon of the ITth, Captain lAahy spoke 
to tile members of the Red Guielon staff, suggesting they 
get busy and see "what could be done" to make Christ- 
mas of 1^18 one that wouL! be worth while A meeting 
was hekl that e\ening with the result it was clceideel to tr\- 
and arrange a Christmas show using Batterv talent. 
There was no theatre, no stage, no costumes and talent 
was ol an unf.nown e|ualit\- anel c|uantity, 

1 here was. how e\ er, an abunelanee of hope an^l 
ambition. Committees were appointed: one to look 
after a hall, another for stage scenery, costumes, etc , 
and a third for talent for the entertainment 

The next da> e\er\()ne got bus\ , joe Schnitzler an^l 
Bill .\lLirph\ got a truck d'om the stipply compan\' anel 
went to a "l " headquarters at Ippecourt. about twehe 
miles awa\. There the\- managed to police up four 
tent lloors for a stage, about fifty yards of green burlap 
camouflage foi- wings, flics and drapes, and a few oekls 
and ends. 

At the loot of the hill, below the Batter\''s camp, la\' 
a group of \aeant hospital buildings, guarded by f^rench 
soldiers. Lieutenant Howard Myers, Sergeant Larry 
fetch anel the [battery interpreter, Rene Corelon, aielcel 
by bribes ol cigarettes, succeeeieLl in securing the use of 
one ol these buildings as a theatre 

1 he stage was erected. Coi'poral 1 rub\ got busy anel 
put up drapes, wings and llies with the green burlap. A 
can\as paulin was used for a back drop and Corporal 
V erne Ritter, getting OLit his paints and brushes, proceedeel 
to paint thereon a Lrench \illage. From carh' morning 
tintil late afternoon, Ritter laboreel e\ en missing noon- 
mess in orelei- to finish tip the joi^ in time. 

In the meantime "Mutt" Bailsman an^l Tommy 
Thompson of the talent committee ha^l been busy 
Ele\en (11) feature acts hael been lined up an^l the bulle- 
tin hoard was used to gi\ e these pul^licity anel, believe you 



CAHP CHAMOIS.. .rRAHCS 

DCCCHDER ?5 
I9ia 



■at 



me' it did. 1 hompson as a publicitv man and press agent 
was a knockout. A hurried trip was made to Bar-le-Duc 
for supplies anel costumes. Black cambric, red and yellow- 
satin, pink silk stockings, purple garters, lip-stick and 
eye-lash pencil, were but a lew of the articles that came 
back. Bill Summers hunted the villages of Benoitevaux 
and Rambluzin o\er and succeeded in securing a French 
solelier's uniform, anel a Lrench farmer's Sunday suit for 
a waiter's outfit. 

Then came rehearsal and things started to look bright 
for a Merry Christmas. By the distribution of more 
cigarettes and more parley-\'ooing the French guards at 
the hospital were persuaded to furnish electric lights for 
the evening. Harolel Moock was made chief electrician 
and wired the place, putting in foot-lights and 
borders, assisted by (jcorge White, Gerald Gru\er and 
Billy Lenihan, S. B. Jackson was stage carpenter. Vic 
Caiinther. warelrobe mistress; Corporal Carl Truby and 
Joe Schnitzler. propertymen. 

The afternoons Just pre\ ious to (Tiristmas w ere gi\ en 
o\er to rehearsals. The e\enings were spent in polishing 
up the lines, learning cues and making costumes. 

John Ltink was especialK' acti\e in the last named. 
Faking the part of a French madamoiselle, it was necessary 
for him to use all his ingenuity in designing his costume. 
Just a word about that costume, — hospital slippers on 
w hich the saddler put high heels came first, then the pink 
silk stockings. The black cambric formed the skirt, six 
inches from the bottom of which John painted llowers. 
Red satin for a girdle and an O. D. raincoat lining, in 
which pink Chiffon slee\'es were inserted, made up the 
lacket. .An O. D turban trimmed in black topped off 
the whole 

Ihc afternoon of f^eccmber 24th saw the final re- 
hearsal, e\ cryone in make-up and the show promised bi; 
for the following e\ening. 

.\ ntimber of the I?atter\mcn went to mielnight mass 
in Rambkirin, Farly Christmas morning there was a 
hea\ >• fall of snow so that w hen the men awoke, e\erything 
was fairly white. 

Breakfast about eight and from then until elinner 
the time passe^l t|Uietl\ Man\- ol the men attended 
chtirch ser\ ices in the morning anel at abc>ut ten-thirty, 
the Christmas boxes which had arrixecl were ciistributcel. 
About one P. M, chocolates, cigarettes and chewing gum. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 189 



donated by the Red Cross, K. of C. and '^'. M. C. A., 
were given out. 

Two o'clock and the first really big e\ent of the day 
came off — Christmas dinner. It was the culmination of 
days oi preparation and work by the Mess Sergeant and 
Cooks Sedberry, Capron. Outland and Mason. 

Roast beef, that "was." mashed "pomme de terre," 
corn. peas. gra\y. dressing, coffee, grapes and cake made 
up the meal and e\ery one enjoyed and appreciated it, 
Christmas dinner was the onl\ meal of b'tlS foi- which no 
one came back for seconds. 

Among the distinguishes! elinner guests were Major 
Carl l\a\enagh; Sergeant Lathomar from Brigade Head- 
quarters and Mr. William b>tch, father of Sergeant "Pop" 
f'etch, Mr. f-etch was engaged in ^'. M. C^. A. work in 
I'rance. 

f-'ollowing mess the actors and stage han^ls hustled 
to the theatre to prepare lor the show. 1 he show was 



booked to start at six P. M., and by five o'clock the house 
was crowdei-l, M -\I. Shere, who was punching tickets 
was forccel to turn many away. Art Possehl ant:! C^corge 
White were ushers and detecti\es and were kept busy 
rounding up ticket speculators. 

hollowing the show, speeches were ma^le by Major 
I\a\enagh. Mr, ketch. Captain Leahy, Lieutenants 
Myers ant! ('urtin. Sergeant Major Creenburg. L'irst 
Sergeant (.jreenc and Sergeants La\ery and Curry. They 
were all cheered and cheered again by the boys. 

Sandwiches, cand\ and cigarettes and other refresh- 
ments were served both during and alter the show, 
"jolly" 1 kill, joe Stoneberger and Marshall Sheets and 
Spooks kulmei" were m charge of the refreshments. 

By ele\en P, \! e\er\one was back in the billets 
talking the e\enis of the day i)\er and by common consent 
It was \()tcd die best Christmas the Batter\' ever hael. 



Doughnuts 



THE delectable doughnuts doled out by the doty dieti- 
tian of B Battery were deserving of all the compli- 
ments paid them for the\' were far from being elebilitating. 
These delicacies were devoured and digested with little 
strain on the digastric muscles and were doubly delightful 
coming as they did in devastated elistricts of Lrance. 

Although B Battery never were close enough to a 
Salvation Army kitchen to enjoy the doughnuts given 
out by the lassies there the\' were near enough to a 
certain army kitchen to enjoy the ones maele by Mess 
Sergeant Curry and his able crew of cooks. 

The only objection to George's sinkers was that they 
didn't happen often enough. It was computed by the 
Battery mess statistician, Archie Murphy, that the Salva- 
tion Army gave away more doughnuts in one day than B 
Battery ate during their entire stay in Lrance, and that 
the holes from those same doughnuts would have filled 
the mess-kits of the entire Battery with enough leftover 
to furnish "seconds" for the statistician, "Shanty" 
Kalaher and "Galloping" GLilick. Archie claimed that 
the kitchen police ate all the holes thus elcpriv mg the 
Batterymen of their just rights and doughnuts. 

Doughnuts made their first appearance in the B 
Battery mess in f- ranee on Thanksgiving dav" when 
Sergeant Currv" and his crew ably assisted by the pastry 
expert. "Red " Hogue made about four hundred of the 
deglutable delicacies. The next appearance was on 
Christmas clay when it was reported that there were 
doughnuts on every mess-kit, but masniLich as every 
mess-kit was so full some of the boys never got down to 
them before they were full. Then the New ^'ear's day 
dinner was also topped off by a doughnut, but again the 



fellows were so full of the big ^linnei- that thcv couldn't 
fully appreciate them 

1 he most unique objection to the serving of i.lough- 
nuts was offered by Howard "Punk " Miller one elay when 
he hai.1 to shut his eyes to fullv' enjov' one of Curry's 
priele "Lv erv' time 1 look at one of those round things, " 
said "Punk," "1 think of an 'O anel that naturalK' 
reminds me of the zero hour. " 



Some Kicker 




(")ne of the colored soldiers who used to v isit Ike ."spicer 
an^i Bob RkIcit in their stables on the front near the 
Moselle river startei.1 to pat one ol the horses on the hips 
one dav and the nag let one fly at him. "Good Lord. " 
saiel the Alabama boy " 1 hass a bad boss, that there 
boss IS awful J-iael. That boss, white boy, woukl kick at 
his own tail." 



CHRISTMAS in the army, at best, always tends to ha a 
very dull affair. What, with home and family usually 
hundreds of miles away, is there left for rejoiein^ o\'er or 
eelehrating, ( 'f eourse there is alwa\s some sort ot party, 
entertainment or banquet, to help brighten up the ^'ule- 
tide season, these being gi\en or furnished by the organ- 
ization or by the men themsehes. 

Then the paekages from home" All those good things 
that mother, sister and "she" make so well Oh' how 
those boxes were appreciated, indeed, the prospect of 
a Christmas without a lot of boxes from home was not a 
bright one. 

Christmas on the border found every man in the 
Battery in possession of at least one box. '1 hey \ aried 
in size, from a cigar box to those large dry-goods boxes 
that held enough for the entire Battery. Sergeant Oscar 
Hollenbeck with his store-box full of cakes, etc.. and 
Wilbur Dunn with his box of "perfectos" were among 
the happiest Batterymen that day. 

In Alabama. Christmas found the fellows equally well 
treated. The boxes and packages came rolling into the 
office for a week before Christmas day. With Christmas 
e\e came that wonderful "Ohio Special" bringing a host 
of friends and relatn es and another be\\' of presents. 

In France, of course, the fellows knew that the possi- 
bility of recei%ing any amount of packages was out ol the 
question, inasmuch as they couldn't e\cn get their letters, 
ani.1 the memor^ of other Christmases in the army was 




indeed one to haunt the boys. Stuck away up there on a 
hill, in the land that Homer Eckert used to say, "the 
good L.,ord forgot and the Germans didn't want" no one 
anticipated a very Merry Christmas. The government 
had issued an edict to the effect that the only packages 
that could be sent to the A. E. F. were the prescribed 
Red Cross boxes. TheQx4x3. In their wildest dreams 
the Batterymen couldn't imagine getting anything of any 
size or importance in such a small box. 

What a happ\ awakening that Christmas morning 
though' Captain Leahy had held the boxes that had 
arrived early, and on Christmas morning they were all 
given out. And such an array of candy, cigarettes, wrist- 
watches and kniek-nacks' After unpacking the boxes, 
the rest of the day was spent in trying to get the stuff 
back in the same "0x4x3" from which it came. 

Bill Owens, George Nycamp and "Tub" Lamiell de- 
clared that they would have to sleep on the floor that night, 
their bunks were so full of the contents of their "petit 
boites " It has always been a myster\- to the fellows 
how the mothers, sisters and sweethearts managed to get 
so much stuff in so little space. There was enough fudge 
in B Battery that Christmas morning to make the most 
prosperous cand\' kitchen proprietor en\ lous 

So. after all, the "'-' x 4 x 3's furnishcLl a big part of B 
Battery's o\erseas Christmas, chiefly because they were 
so surprising in the \olume of their contents. 



Ld Vie Pdxiisienne 



BATTERY never took 
French, or the study 
the language seriously until 
t had been in Cestas about 
a week and At lee Wise and 
oe Schnitzler, the first men 
to make a trip to the city of 
Bordeaux, brought back a 
copy of "La Vie Parisienne," They tossed it on a table, 
the men in the billet trxik one look at the magazine. 



took another look, and then made a di\e for "French 
Lessons for Beginners" Ooh-la-la' Here was a real 
reason to learn the Lrench language, 

"La Vie Parisienne" a magazine published weekly in 
Paris, corresponds to Life and judge in being a humorous 
publication, otherwise, it differs just as largely as Paris, 
L"rance, differs from Mishawaka, Ind. 
It's like the little \erse 

"Oh pity the poor Hindu, 

He i,loes the best he kin do. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 191 



To add to liis woes, 
He has no clothes. 
So he has to make his skin Jo'" 

Which was apparenth" the great trouble with the 
ladies of "La Vie." They had clothes, hut the\' were so 
darned careless about the wa\' they left them lying 
around. Merci! They wandered around through page 
after page of the book with nothing on but a bracelet 
and a pink ribbon, anel they elidn t gi\e a hoot who saw 
them, and the coldest winter da>' found Mignon out 
skating, clad only in a scarf and a pair of shoes, and the 
poor little thing didn't mind it a bit. In America, she 
w'ouldn t ha\e lasted fi\e minutes — the park policeman 
would ha\e chased her home to get some clothes, and 
asked her if she wasn't ashamcel of herself, but this was 
La Belle France, so again we say — Ooh-la-la. 

And there's the difference. In France, "La Vie 
Parisienne " is a staid, perfectly respectable fun-making 
magazine, and the tired business man stops b\ the news- 
stand on his way from work, lays down one franc for his 
copy and takes it home where he reads the jokes and 
looks at the pictures over the "fromage et cafe au lait," 
then turns it o\'er to his wife to ha\ e a good laugh together. 
While on the other hand, if it were published in America, 
the land of the brave and the home of Anthony Comstock, 
the mob scene at the news stanels would make the first 
battle of the Marne look like a peace con\'ention at The 
Hague. 



Hence, when the Battery mo\ed to Camp de Souge, 
and some one or other of the boys made a trip to Bordeaux 
e\'ery Saturda\ , he didn't elare come back without the 
current issue of "La \ le Parisienne," anel this explains the 
complaint of the "1' .\I, C A man 

"What's getting in to yoti Icllows' I'xc ha^l the 
biggest run of "French lor Beginners " that I've had since 
I've been in L ranee 

1 Ic didn t ask the right parties or the\" could ha\e 
told him "toute d suite ' 1 here ma\ ha\e been lots of 
men satisfied to look at the pictures, but not in B Battery. 
When the\- saw a picture ol "jcune ("ille Jeanne " sitting 
before her Liressin.g-table all dresscel tip in a ribbon and 
two diamond rings, the\ wanted to kixiw what she was 
saying as indicatcel in the L'rench text beneath What 
couki she sa>'' And there nou were 

So almost any night in the billet. \'ou cotild ha\e 
hearel 

"He\ . Punk, what docs, loi, mon pati\ re eheri, 
mean'" .An^l l^tink .Miller \ells back, "How the ^lickcns 
i.lo 1 know ' What elo \ou think 1 am- a frog' What 
do \ou want to know tor'" 

"( 'h, 1 got a "I-'arisienne " here with a picttireofa 
Irench elame and it says that underneath " 

Silence lor a moment, then, 'He\ , Bennett'" 

"What'" 

"Cumme seconels on it, will you'" 

"(V)h-la-la' " 



Names of Guns 



THE first American artilleryman arming in L ranee, 
found that it was a tradition among the English and 
French artillery to gi\e names to their guns. 

Passing a battery of French 75's along the road, they 
found each gun with a nickname painted on the top-shield. 
There was "Mignon, " "Marionette," "Alsace" and 
"Ninette," and it seemed to gi\e them indniduality. 
Naturally the yanks took the tradition to themsehes 
and when B Battery arrived at Camp de Souge for their 
first training in the use of the French gun, they found 
gun-parks with guns and caissons in orderh' arra\' and 
each gun had an American nickname. 

As a consequence when the materiel arrived for the 
Battery some three weeks later one of the first eitiestions 
that arose in the gun sections was, "What are wc going 
to name her' " Lor qtiite a while this was the favorite 
topic for disctission, anel the men sat around the billets 
and argued the respective merits of their favorite nick- 
names, and at times the argument waxed hot. One by 
one, however, the four sections came to an agreement and 
after it was all over and the painters had finished up the 
job with black paint, the first section gun ceased being 



a mere thing ol steel ani.! Irom that time on she was 
toni^llv known as "C^alamity lane," As Mike Shepard 
said. "She's going to be a ealamitv for the Boche. if we 
ever get a crack at them." 

1 he second section gun blossomcLl out as the "Buz- 
zard, I he best explanation coming from the second 
section in regaixl to this name was that it was a shortening 
ol the army nickname for a hearty eater "jungle Buzzard, " 
and the title probablv' referred to her capacitv' for eating 
"beaucoup scrap-iron ' The thnxl section lx)re the proud 
title "Peace Terms. ' As Ceorge CoLichy very affably 
explained she was to bring "peace throtigh violence. " 
and mtich high explosive in the vicinity of Berlin 

The totirth section, when naming their gun, thought 
of their own state, and without a moments hesitation 
named the lady the "Buckeye Girl " 

1 he guns carriCLl these names for the rcmaini.ler of 
the war. and the morning of Novemfx-r I >, F'>LS, as they 
left the front, bound for the long stav on the hill above 
Rambluzin, each one of them bore, written in chalk 
underneath the name, thrs legentl. "Il-ll-ll, Finis la 
Ckierre.' 



Page 192 



The Red (iuidon 



New Year's Eve 



CHRISTMAS had gone and it appeared that the Bat- 
tery was to settle back into the humdrum routine 
w lien George White haijl an idea — a New ^'ear's E\e party 
and thereby hangs this tale. 

Following another busy week the last da\' found 
George and his co-workers well satisfied. Athletic 
talent had been secured as well as one or two other 
features to round out the program and all was in readiness 
for a grand New dear's party -a pait\' ne\ei- before 
ecjualled — in kind and spirit, il not in splendor. 

It was a bad night, raining as usual, yet long before 
nine, the time set for Walter \ aughn and .Art Possehl to 
do their mat work, the little theatre was comfortably 
filled with an eagerly expectant throng. There was the 
buzz of conversation and checrlul banalit\' or an occasional 
cry at the entrance of some late arrival and the atmos- 
phere was charged with the spirit of good fellowship. 
Smokes were plentikil and a thick, blue haze drifted 
lazily back and forth w ith the motion of the air 

Shortly before nine. Tommy Thompson took the floor 
and beseeching quiet, introduced the officials of the eve- 
ning while from all sides came the cry of "Lets go ' as some 
more impatient than the rest became annoyed at even 
this slight delay. He began, "Laches and Gentlemen 
we are now ready to start anel as he introduced Sergeant 
Don Scott as the announcer for the evening, some greete^l 
him with "ta-ta-ta as others cried "Look him over," 
"Throw him out" and other hospitable remarks, just to 
prove to Scotty that he was among friends. Attention 
is next directed to timekeeper Spade wh<i is to occupv' 
the right rear corner of the platform where he may have 
ample room to swing his cane against the gong, improvised 
from a decorated shell case, 

Scotty assumes his role and begins: " I he first 
number on this evening's program. I vvouki like to an- 
noLince .Arthur Possehl, the husky C]reek and Walter 
Vaughn, the big Dane, who will wrestle for fifteen mintites" 
Jake Scheibman of .\ Battery was chosen Ui watch for 



fouls and at eight fifty-five the gong sounded and the 
show was on. 

Of the bout there is little to record for the two men 
were evenly matched and neither gained any great 
advantage and the round ended w ithout a victor. During 
the bout, however, little was hear^l from the onlookers 
and the applaLise following the gong at the end of fifteen 
m.inutes spoke volumes for the approval the men had 
gained. 

Jones and Butcher followed with various tumbling 
and contortionist stunts which were a variety and were 
well accepted. Among their features were the "back 
pickup," "stumpv," the "human ball" an^l others common 
to the first act in vaudev ille. An amusing part of their 
performance was when Butcher lifted Jones with his teeth 
and some musically inclined and emotional individual 
whistled a bar from "Hearts and Flowers." 

The stage was then cleared and Rube Moledor and 
Cognac Rubright were presented as contendents for the 
crown of pugilism— in their class. At the song they 
mixed it. Through two rounds of terrific slugging they 
battered their way to a draw to the entire satisfaction of 
the audience, if not to themselves. 

l-'ollowing them were Moock and Murphy who went 
three rountjls w ith the gloves to a "no decision" anci they 
in turn were followed by the Clark brothers who put up 
a nice dainty exhibition of how it ought to be done with- 
out doing any damage. 

Intermission then ensued and smokes and refresh- 
ments which had been forgotten for the time being were 
again the center of attraction, while the merits of the 
contestants were eagerly discussed — and cussed perhaps. 

Thirsts being quenched, attention was again directed 
to the ring as George White and Whearty took their 
respective corners and they came forward at the bell and 
put up an extremely clever display of boxing. Their 
work was good and received a fair share of the applause. 




DETAIL-BARRACKS AT CAMP DU CHANOIS 



The Red Guidon 



Page 193 



Possibly Lamiell and Kalaher in their burlesque bout 
brought forth the greatest amount of cheering and 
applause, for their act was of a nature that does well 
itself without in an\- \\a\' detracting from the \alue of 
its predecessors. Clad in nondescript attire consisting 
principally of some of Poling's misfit under woolens and 
decorated as to nose with grease paint, they swaggered 
forth Lamiell with a cigaret nonchalantly between his 
lips, Kalaher with a bottle half conceakxl under his arm 
What a bout it was — a fight to the finish, according to 
the announcer, and they went at it literally tooth and 
nail with feet thrown in It is beyond the power of pen 
to describe the antics they staged, kicking, biting and 
indulging in all the tricks that are known to be utterly in 
defiance of the rules There were no rules in this bout 
for as has been said, it was to the finish, and the finish 
found Kalaher down for the count of ten and Lamiell 
the prouel winner 

Joe Kelly's chalk talk helped keep interest ali\e as 
he portrayed \arious interesting themes in snappy 
sketches to the accompaniment ol a line of chatter 
distincti\ely his own. His subjects were, quite appro- 
priately, the officers, and so he rambled on Irom jam to 
doughnuts, bringing a laugh with each new sketch. As 
an encore he drew a likeness ot the C'olonel, and there 
follows an extract from notes taken of the remarks heard 
as he busily plied his cra\(in "Picture of old woof-woof, " 
"Oh, I know the boys are all right, ' "Look at the ears 
on him," "Don't gi\e him that much space;" "Here 
becomes, Kelly;' "Attention;" "Don't forget Shafter;" 
"Oh, that flatters him," ""His ears are too short;" 
""Where s his taiP "Woof -woof' '"Let's hear him 
bark once;"' "Joe, \ou ought to get a million lor that;" 
"He ought to get the brig;'" ""He woukl if the Colonel 

saw it; Fen days extra duty;"" No more Aix-les- 

Bains lor you, Kelly, " anel the picture was finished. 



Bob Barrington of Supply Company did his bit with 
the German politician's speech and a Hebrew impersona- 
tion. 

The evening was almost spent and w hile the B Battery 
qtiartette was being rounded up, final preparations were 
made. A clock dial had been fashioned from card-board 
with the sector from eleven to twelve removed. Hands 
were placeel on the clock and a light was arranged to 
shine through the opening, in order to mark the last 
five minutes of the year. While the room was dark, all 
was maele ready and at 1 I :55 the light behind the clock 
appeared as the boys began to sing, "1 he Gypsy Love 
Song " All was elark except tor the illumination behind 
the clock anel e|uiet reigned everywhere except for the 
singing. .Minute b\- minute the han^ls crept towarel 
twelve and ten seconds after the last note of the singing, 
twelve strokes chimed out in slow succession and so in- 
tense was the silence that there seemed to he a strange 
pall over all — as though everyone was counting 
the strokes as they rang out one by one. afraid 
almost to breathe for fear of breaking the spell, 
until upon the last stroke a shot was fired in the 
wings an^l the buglers plaved "To The Colors." Lvery 
man stood at attention throughout this an^l when it was 
finishcLl. the L|uaitette burst into another song, but was 
diowneel by the howling contusion that prevaileel as 
eager New 'I'ears greetings became general. Boys 
i-lanced with one another in sheer abandon, everyone was 
laughing anel shouting and they were not the same 
fellows who onlv' the dav' before had been wishing them- 
selves home anel complaining about being in brance. 

.\nel so enelcLl B Batterv' s New ^'ear's Eve in Prance, 
but as the men climbed the hill to camp there was a 
consenstis of opinion that this had been B Battery's best 
New ^'ear's ev e. 



Going 



Up 



THERE was perhaps only one time when B Battery on 
the march did not resemble a military organization. 
That time was the dav- the Battery along with Batteries 
A and C and Headquarters Company mareheel out of 
'"Pnetimonia Hollow" in f-rance on their wav to the first 
gun positions on the front. 

The four outfits looked more like a gvpsv' earav an than 
a battalion of field artillery. The men who went carried 
with them various articles ot clothing anel eats, blankets 
and other equipment and this stuff was all pilet^l onto the 
gun carriages and wagons. The fourgon wagon, carrying 
the Battery's special detail mstrtiments and other supplies 
upset tinder its load before the paraele got out of the 
hollow onto the main road 

Blanket rolls went into the muel and the wagon had 



to be unloaded. Captain Hollenbeck. Sergeant Pearl 
Wood and Bob Barrington rode on an army buckboard 
that was piled high with junk. The horses were weighed 
down w ith extra baggage and there was not enotigh room 
on the carriages for the men to ride. 

The bov's who didn't go to the front that dav' line^.! the 
road going out of camp and laughed at the caravan. 
Nobody knew how deep the departing soldiers were 
going to get into the fight and yet there wasn't a serious 
good-bve uttered. The procession was funnv' to every- 
body and the thought of dodging German high explosives 
that night didn't worry Sergeants Lynch. Newman. Dunn 
and the rest half so much as the question "was everything 
going to ride all right." 

The Battery never looked so unmilitary as on that day. 




THE BOAR 
HUNT 

INFRANCK 



^ 



THE night is. dark, bitter cold and a drizzlm^j, ram is 
falling. Down in the French \ illage the clock in the 
church tow er booms the hour of two. In B Battery s 
billets on the hiU-side, above Ramblurin, a candle-light 
flickers. A solitary figure clambers shixeringly out ot 
bed and pulls on a pair of boots. He makes his way to 
several other bunks and in a few moments five other 
figures wrapped in their great coats, rifles on their 
shoulders and pistols in their pockets, steal stealthily 
into the night. 

Who can they be^ What is their object' Not a 
midnight raid. No; surely not, for the war is over. Ah' 
Now it comes out, they are the Battery's mighty hunters 
and their game is the wild boar that roams the fields of 
northern iM-ance. Closer inspection re\eals the laces of 
the might>' C|uintette. 

They're headed by Corporal R. W. Scott, and John 
Jackson, Art Possehl, L. D. Clark and Earl Davidson 
make up the rest of the party. The gloom of the night 
is positively impenetrable, the cokl numbing and the 
footing up hill and down is rough, but it doesn't daunt 
their stout hearts. The lust of the trail is theirs. Three 
miles away lies a small pond; and it is their destination. 
Here the boars come for a drink, The\- had dope on 
this from the best authority . 

Three o'clock finds them at the pond. Scott\- 
assembles them for final instructions, cautions them to 
be absolutely quiet and e\er on the alert. Then the\' are 
posted, Jackson takes one end of the pond, f^ossehl the 
other. Clark and Davidson are on either side and 
Scotty places himself in reserve. 

They lie in wait for their prey. Orders are strict, no 
smoking, absolute Cjuiet and caution. Abo\e all they 
are not to fire at the first sight of a boar. They must 
wait, constrain themselves e\en though their fingers be 
Itching on the trigger. Wait until the boar has started 
to drink, wait until the boar is lapping the water — then 
Ah! The great moment — fill his dirty hide with lead 
Four o'clock comes but no boars. 
( )nl\ the grit of a pioneer holds them to their task. 
J. M. Jackson's feet are nearl\- frozen and he must re- 
move his boots to ease the pain. Once he believed he 
saw an animal go for a drink. Possehl and Scotty are 
called into conference and the trio investigate, but alas, 
it was only a vision. 



Five o'clock finds their patience wavering. Consulta- 
tion was held and a stragetic retreat to the camp was 
decided upon. Possehl hekl that they had come too 
early. Scotty said not earlv' enotigh, that a wild boar 
drank arotind midnight. 

They returned foot-sore, weary and hungry, but a 
good breakfast of oatmeal, coffee and bacon put them all 
in better spirits. For more than a week though, they 
were subjected to a continuous annoyance by the rest of 
the Batterymen who insisted on making a noise resembling 
a wild boar. 

1 his was onlv' one of the many boar hunts that the 
men of the Battery engaged in after the war in l-rance. 
Fred Clark, f-'red Robinson, Carl Schrank, \1. \1. Shere. 
J D Cochran. A. D, L-^orelen, E, S, Sanders, and Miles 
Rubright were some who engaged in this kingly 
sport, "Sleuth" Nick C^arson, got the dope from a 
Frenchman as to the best method of hunting boars. 
The iM-ench go out in parties of about twenty-five, with 
as manv' dogs and beat the brush. The Battery didn't 
have dogs but. they did go out twentv-five strong, 
armed with rifles, pistols and clubs. 

On one occasion, Ross Kalaher and Dick Favery 
went out, f-loss did see a wild boar, but one look was 
enough, Ross started back for camp double time, and 
the boar started in the other direction, 

f-'red Robinson, while on a hunt, one day, caught sight 
of three deers and became so excited he forgot to shoot. 

To "Sleuth" Carson and Lewis "bish " Moore goes 
the honor of being the first Batterymen to ever see a 
boar. To "Fish " goes the highest honor of all. He 
was the only man to kill one and lor one meal the flattery 
had fresh pork. A welcome change from beef. All hail 
to the mightiest hunter of them all — "I-'ish" Moore 

Christian "Shortv" Morgensen. "L'ncle" Joe Stone- 
berger and "f-'ish" started on a hunt one clav'. and for 
hours without success they pursued the elusive wild pig. 

Shortv and Joe returned to camp, but not "f'lsh." 
His determination as a hunter was worthy of Daniel 
Boone, "f-'ish" is plodding silently along, his rifle in the 
crook of his arm. A slight rustle in the bushes causes 
him to turn, and there running through the undergrowth 
IS his C|uarry. In less time than it takes to tell a bead is 
drawn and a bullet spee^is on its way and finds a lodging 
in the brain of the boar Moore had killed the Battery's 
first hoar. It weighed about two hundred and fifty 
pounds and it was necessary to summon help from the 
Battery to bring it in. Robinson. Rubright, Reynolds, 
Shepherd, Charley Brewer, Red Hogue and Rogers 



The Red Guidon 



Page 195 



volunteered and between them they managed to drag it in. 
The entire Battery vieued the remains and Moore 
was hailed as a conquering hero. "Jolly" Hull and "Ike" 
Spicer skinned and dressed it. The Battery ate and 
relished it. and in liaston. Pa., in the home of I.. W. 



Moore is a pelt — a trophy attesting the prowess of 
Lewis. 

Shortly after this an order was posted, saying that 
the French hunting season had closed, so that boar 
hunting became a lost art. 



Information 



ttT TH'l . ^'oungs. w hen's pa>' day'' An\' mail today'' 
-n. Did I get a letter' No'— Well I don't see where 
my mail is; they sa\' they are writing at home ' (Goes 
away grumbling, thinking he is a \'ery unfortunate chap.) 
— next man : 

"How about that Liberty bond ol mine, mother says 
she hasn't receiveel it Net"" What' She wilP Well 
when. I'd like to know . I finished paying for it last month'' 
^ ou lIoh t need to get pee\ ed about it. 1 was only askin' 
you. (In a modified tone) — I'd forgotten it takes so 
darned long for mail to come across." 

"When am I i^lue for guard' Tonight'' I was just 
on about seven days ago. How often is guard coming 
nov\'. e\ery week' Is Tom on tonight, too' That's 
funny, he was on with me the last time How many 
men are standin' guard now' Don't seem to me we 
should catch guard so often then, ^'es and 1 know a 
couple of fellows right in m\ tent that haven't stood a 
guard since they ha\'e been in this camp " (Walks 
away satisfied he has shown the clerk up) 

"What's the chance of get tin' a pass to town tomorrow' 
Why not ' The other batteries are gettin' them whenever 
the\' want em. That's always m\' luck, — S. O L. 
This is the damndest battery 1 ever saw, regular boy 
scout outfit. Bet il 1 could get a transfer I'd get into a 
regular organization. When are we goin' to move, Corp' 
They say we are goin to the Iront to back up our own 
doughboys, is that so' Do we get all new American 
harness and horses' Wonder when we'll turn in our 
French stuff' Is there a "^ " in the ne.\t town' What 
can you get there' Wonder if they ha\e any chocolate' 
What kind, U, S. or French' Don't like that French 
chocolate." 



"When will we get our furloughs' We'\e been o\er 
here four months now. How'll you run that anyway' 
L's old fellows will get them first won t we' Anyhow I 
didn't have one at Sheridan, you know, and some of the 
fellows had one at Ft. Ben and there too. Don't see 
how the deuce they pull it, — I ne\er could, ^'ou won't 
forget to ptit me at the head of the list will you' Oui, 
merci' " (Walks away with \isions of a trip to Paris or 
Ai.x les Bains within the ne.xt week.) 

"Well, what do you think ol the war, ^ oungs' Think 
the Kaiser's about done, don't you' What do you think 
of this peace talk, anything to it' Suppose they'll sign 
that armistice' ' 

Later — (11:15 A. M., the armistice effecti\-e from 
11:00 A. M.) 

".Any news as to what they are going to do with us' 
Suppose we'll be home by Christmas' Won't that be 
great' When you goin' to start to make out discharges' 
I'll take mine now. Wonder when Poling's goin' to call 
in the gas masks and tin hats, we i.lon t need the blamed 
things an\' more ' 

"U'onder what boat we'll go back on' Suppose we'll 
sail from Marseilles or is that just a rumor' 'I'ou say 
you heard lickert sa\' that he heard Captain Snow tell 
some of the fellov^s that Major Ka\enagh had phoned 
to him that we might' That sounds pretty good, guess 
I'll go down and spread that to the bo\s. B\ the way, 
there didn't a package come in for me today, did there' 
Wonder where that is' 1 he last time I heard from Bess 
she said she was going to try to send me one. Ihere goes 
soup call, wonder what Curry's got for mess'" 



Which Way 



B BATTERS' boys were in bo.K cars on the way from 
La Ha\'re. F^rance to Bordeaux. They were tired of 
the army ani;l war in France when the train pulled in 
along side a train load ol cattle cars. The cows were 
moaning about the army too. 

Martin Shcre looked out ol the siele door of the car 
in which he was traveling and shouted o\er to the cows. 
"Hello fellows, which way are you going? " 



Captain Kinsell 



/■""^APTAIN Kinsell of Battery C was in command of 
^'-^ the 1st Battalion lUth regiment while 13 Battery 
was on the Iront abo\e N'lgneulles. Here's to Captain 
Kinsell. He was out there e\er>- day and he helped a 
whole lot in the work of the different batteries, their fire 
and so on. Kinsell was continually going forward to the 
doughboy trenches and beyond to observe fire, etc. 



Page I'.m 



The Red Guidon 



Furloughs 



BBATTER"^' was in France Just six months when the 
first men were given furloughs. That was at Christ- 
mas time while the Battery lay up in a woods south of \'er- 
dun waiting to go home. Sergeant Roscoe Poling, and Boh 
Newman, Corporals Joe Kelly and Don Northrup, jimmie 
Bennett. jimmieHogue. Henry Bittinger and Gust 1 rekal 
were the lucky birds to go on the first leaves. The names 
were picked out of a hat and the boys were started off 
one night in trucks for a se\en da\ sta\' at Aix Les Bains 
m the French Alps. 

They went to St. Mihiel in a truck and from there to 
the famous French l?oiling out resort by train. 

All but one of them went. Joe Kelly got off the train 
at St. Mihiel and went to Paris and 1-e Mans where the 
Akron Infantry companies were reported in camp. 



Roscoe Poling was the star of that picnic. He climbed 
mountains, went skiing and took baths in the same pools 
where ancient kings and queens had once splashed about. 
"1 had a bath in the same pool where Diana bathed," 
Roscoe told the rest of the boys alter he got back. Bob 
Newman, Hogue, Lk'nnett and the rest got acquainted 
with one of the hotel men there who had been in America 
for a long time in the restaurant business. 1 he boys 
succeedeel in interesting the ex-American in affairs at 
home so much they were able to eat an^l Llrink around the 
hotel on their faces. 

They left Aix Les Bains with the good will of e\ erybody 
around the resort anei told the ex-American they would 
pay him for the feeds he had pro\ided after they returned 
to the States. 



Captain Norton 



A CONSIDERATE old timer of the officers' row whom 
B Batterymen alwa\shad a warm spot for was Cap- 
tain Norton, adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the n4th F. 
A. when the war ended. Captain Norton went into the 
field a second lieutenant when the National Guard went 
to Mexico in l^lb. He stuck to the old layout through 
all the fat and lean days of the border. Camp Sheridan 
and "o\er there." 

The Batterymen got their first close-up impression of 
him at Cestas. fM-ance, when he was given charge ol 
Batteries A and B in that place, 'i'here was a drill 
program OLit there, but its application and enforcement 



by Captain Norton was not such as to prevent the bo\s 
from having a little fun and from seeing Bordeaux and 
other neighboring towns. The men prospered at Cestas 
under Captain Norton. 

Shortly after the armistice while the Battery was 
awaiting sailing orc^ers in France. Captain Norton was 
given charge of Battery B while the flattery Commander 
William Leahy attended school in another camp. Here 
the men got better acquainted w ith Captain Norton and 
when he left nearly e\ery man in the Batter\ was his 
personal friend Norton at least made them feel that 
way. 



A Close Cal 



THE old border soldiers of B liattery once the\ were 
sure that Ck'neral Villa was not in Northern Mexico 
usclI to feel safe in going over tojaurer. the famous .\ lex- 
ican race track town lying across the Rio Granule ri\er 
from El Paso. 1 exas. 

(~)ne Sunday shortly after [i Battery arrived in fexas. 
Clarence R. I"oiist and Bill Kelly went o\er to Jaure: 
and finding the town an easy one to get around in decided 
to take a few pictures. Despite a strict or^ler against 



the carrying of cameras into Mexico the two Battery 
soldiers had taken some pictures and were about to start 
home when two Mexican soldiers arrested them. Foust 
was the lawyer and Bill Kelly the business man in that 
situation and Ix-tween them the> argued the ".\Iex" 
into releasing them on payment ol a bril.^e of twenty-five 
cents. The incident happened a few yards from the front 
of the notorious Jaure: jail where at that time no foreigner 
i.onlinci.1 e\er came out m the same health he went in. 



Do you remember the first night Lieut. M\crs stood 
Retreat" 



Do you remember when Art Faulkner looked through 
the wrong end of the panoramic sight ■" 



The Red Guidon 



Page 191 



Le Lion de Angers 



THE morning of February 4. found B Battery cocked 
and primed for the mo\e westward. They knew not 
where the\ were going, hut the rumor had been going 
round that Le Lion de Angers was to he the destination 
Maps were consulted to ascertain iiow near it was to the 
coast and it was tbund that it was a disappointingly long 
distance from the little town of Le l^ion to that longed- 
for shoreline from which they were to depart for home. 

At nine o clock the cokimn was under way and as they 
passed the band they heard "Home Sweet Home" played 
for the first time since lea\ ing the States The Colonel 
stood by to see the boys off and it was said b>' man> that 
he had the widest grin on his face that morning that had 
e\-er been seen. Eighteen long, slippery kilometers and 
the scattered buildings of Bannoncourt ho\ e m \ lew and 
upon halting packs were deposited with alacrit\ an^l the 
inevitable mess line was formed It was with i.lif"iiculty 
that "Mike" Green restrained the boys, so eager were 
the>' to get their mess kits underneath the sciup ladle, 
but exentually George Curry passed the high sign and 
the fun was on. No one knows who ate all the beans 
that day, but twent\' gallons disappeared in an incredibly 
short time. 

About two o'clock the 135th pulled out and the train 
for the 134th was spotted. With their customary facility, 
baggage and other impediments were loaded and by 
four o'clock all was set. straw was scattered about the 
car lloors and as many as could find room had settled 
themsehes in as comfortal.'ile positions as was possible 
with thirty-fi\e to lort\' in the historic "40 hommes, 
8 chevaux 

After what seemed an interminable long time a sense 
of motion was telt and it became evident that at last 
they were moving, but there was so much backing and 
bucking and switching around that it was hard to tell 
whether the train was moving forward or backward. As 
darkness fell shortly afterward there was no sense of 
location or direction and as early in the evening as 7 30, 
many of the lellows had tucked their knees under their 
chins in an endeavor to sleep and at the same time allow 
room for his neighbor. 

It was a miserable night and was followed by three 
miserable days and three more uncomfortable nights, 
but on Saturday, I'ebruarv' 8, after a night spent on a 
siding in Segre. the train rolled into the little v illage of 
Le Lion and the tired anci dirty bunch detrained. On 
the platform Mr. Stinson, who many of the bovs remem- 
bered from Camp Sheridan, had with the aid of two 
young ladies set up a few cocoa boilers and as the boys 
piled out of the ears, they quickly spied the forming line 
and hastilv getting out their mess-cups took their places 
in the ever-lengthening line. If the ^'. M ever did any- 
thing for B Battery or the 1 34th, it v^as on this morning, 




for hungry after a fast of practically four days during 
which some of the boys had not tasted anything warm 
except coffee, the cocoa ani.1 cakes were indeed welcome. 
As quickly as possible the detachments were formed 
according to their assignments to billets and under the 
gLiidance of the men who had been sent ahead to assist 
the town major, were taken to their respective dwellings. 
To B Batterv' fell the Chateau du Mas of which more is 
said in another part ol this book. 

That night, although wearv' and worn from the trip, 
the town was full of boys who were down to test the 
village's \in blanc, and stroll about on tours of inspection. 
The streets were cleared earlv'. however, and the W. P. 

stationed there had little 
•*, trouble with loiterers after 

iiy nine o'clock. 

'"":' Now while the boys are 

taking adv antage o( the op- 
portunity to sleep in on Sun- 
day morning, it may be well 
, ,, ., to slip out and look about 

i: BM 3^^lL J^^^ ^^^ town. It is found to be 

very clean and well ordered, 
a con^lition apparently pe- 
culiar to this section of 
I -ranee; at least it had never 
been experienced in the por- 
.. tion that had just been left. 

_.__ ,. ^ The town may be said to 

have been bounded on one 
side by the railroad and the other side by the Mayenne 
river. The railroad was a part of the P. L. 6' M. system w hich 
led in one direction to Segre and to Chateau Gontier and 
in the other direction to the city of Angers. Radiating 
from the village were the roads to Chateau Gontier and 
to Angers. Excellent macadamired highways they were, 
the former absolutely straight leading into Chateau 
Gontier without a single turn. The other made one 
bend of about fifteen degrees, but was perfectly smooth 
and led through some very beautiful country. The river 
apparently was at high water, but flowed lazily along as 
though in C|uiet accord with the other surroundings. 
As has been said, the town was clean the buildings were 
well kept and those streets that were not paved with 
cobble stone were macadamized or in an improved 
condition. Shops lined the main thoroughfare and 
strangelv' enough, there were to be found in these little 
stores, articles at prices which had not been inllated on 
account of the presence of the A, E. [•. 

The people were iTOspitable ani.1 manv strong trienLl- 
ships were formed Ixtween them and the boys during 
their stay there. It was not uncommon for members 
of the Battery to go out to spend the evening with a 



Page 198 



The Red Guidon 



French famih and many pleasant times ha\c been 
recounted by those who were fortunate enoLip;h to form 
these acquaintances 

On Sunday morninii the town's people were to be 
seen going to church, clad in their native costume, which 
to many was \ery quaint and unusual : the women wearing 
their small lace caps and the men clad in their Sunda\- 
best down to their highly polished wooden shoes About 
the time church ser\ ices were o\'er, small groups of men 
from the Battery and regiment had begun to congregate 
on the corners or in front of the shops and it was a motley- 
throng that was to be seen on the street as the church 
people assembled in little groups discussing perhaps the 
weather, or politics, or any subject under the sun. This 
was but a replica of the Sundays that followed except 
that as time went on, some of the bo>s attende^l the 
church and during the last days of the Batter\'s stay 
there, some of the boys sang in the choir 

With the approach of Monday drill schedules appearei.1 
and hikes and clean-up campaigns were the order of the 
day. Following a da>' of the ordinary 
routine the boys would all assemble 
in the town at night where they 
would \isit the Hotel de Les \'o\- 
ageurs and Iced up on pomme de 
terre or eggs and other delicacies 
which they had been unable to get 
during the past four or ff\e months. |§^R*^ Aj " ' ^^■ 

On [->iday the regular market 
took place, which pro\ ided another 
interesting sight. Along a side street 
which proxided considerable space 
between the curbing and the buildings, numerous stalls 
were erected each week where wares of all descriptions 
were displayed. Shoes from the very tiniest up to the 
largest possible sizes, both leather and wooden; shawls, 
knitted goods, in fact, e\erything in the dry goods line 
was to be had. The people of the \ illage assembled on 
market day and in the place of money, the tisual 
medium of exchange, produce or whatever the respecti\e 
individual had was bartered in exchange for the wares 
for sale at the market 

On Sundays the band ga\e concerts before the Hotel 
de Ville whenever the weather was faxorable and they 
were enthusiastically received b>' the natives of the 
village. It may not be said how the men of the regiment 
felt about these concerts and it is left to the reader to 
consult an acquaintance who was there for information 
on this point. It did. howe\'er. ser\e to break the 
monotony and provided a method whereby to while 
away an otherwise unoccupied Sunday afternoon. 

As time went on inspections became practicalK' 
habittial and later decootieizing became the popular topic 
for conxersation. Trucks were secured from brigade and 
as many as possible were taken to Angers where they went 




through the process of being scoured while their clothing 
from socks to overseas cap was boiled in li\e steam. At 
last Major Collins was satisfied that all the li\e stock had 
been annihilated and area inspectors arrixe^l with the 
a\owed purpose of locating e\'ery lurking cootie that 
might ha\e escaped the \ulcanizer through which the 
clothing had been put. At the same time inspectors 
came down to assure themsehes that the boys had 
enough luggage and there was considerable activity in 
proLlucing the required amount of shirts, socks, etc., to 
satisfy the eagle eye of some "sha\e-tail.' Suffice it to 
say that they got by and the momentous day arri\'ed 
when the announcement was made that the Battery 
with the rest of the regiment was to leave for Brest. 

On Thursday night, March P, the boys \-isited the 
town to bid farewell to their numerous friends and 
incidentally to partake of their last portion of \in blanc 
and pomme de terre served by the French, At the Cafe 
^le la Care, I-'itzpatrick's Jazz band held lorth and inspired 
l''\ liL|Uid refreshments at the expense of the proprietor 
at regular fifteen minute intervals, 
they waxed exceedingb' voluminous il 
not harmonious, but the curfew rings 
early in the army and at nine 
o'clock the concert was over, and 
those who had no place to get under 
cover had but to return to their bil- 
lets and rest up for the hike which 
was to take them to Chateau t^on- 
tier, and the train 

On the morning of the 7th, rev- 
eille was earh and breakfasts were 
eaten belore ^lavlight. Packs were rolled, billets were 
swept and carefullv' policed, and at seven o'clock the entire 
regiment was assembled along the road between the river 
and the billets in which the second battalion had been lo- 
cated. All packs had been loaded onto trucks and the band 
precei.led the regiment by truck in order to meet the boys 
at Chateau Cjontier and escort them in triumphal pro- 
cession from the edge of the village to the railway. The 
hike was a long one. twenty-two kilometers, bi.it without 
packs ani.1 with the knowledge that it was another step 
toward home, it was anything, but a hardship and as 
thev- were met on the outskirts of Contier bv' the 
Colonel an his host ol musicians, thev' swLing into the 
characteristic stride of the American soldier and reached 
the station, a little tired perhaps, but a happ\- bunch' 

This IS to Lx' no eulogy on the village of I.e Lion, but 
il there was any village in brance in which the Battery 
was billeted where things approximated what they were 
accustomed to at home, and which provided the atmos- 
sphere ol content as nearly as it was possible to be realized 
in France, it was the little village of Le I. ion de Angers, 
Maine et Loire. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 199 



The Army of Occupation 



IT may ha\e been just a coincidence, but it is worthy ol 
note that three of the four former B Batterymen who 
were known to ha\e i^een left in f' ranee on i.lut\ when the 
regiment left for America, wei'e married men. In justice 
to the disappointed wi\cs it might be said that it is not 
known that they all elected to stay away a little longer, 
but-- well, there were single men who but that s getting 
away from the subiect. 

In one case, that of Lieutenant Lee Moore, the trip 
to German\' and the subsequent sojourn in that country 
was made at his own request. Oh' no, he i.lidn t specil\' 
m his application for a commission in the regular army, 
that he wished to go to Germany. The lieutenant was 
probably thinking of a place in the Army of (Vcupation 
that occupied C'amp Taylor or some other camp near 
Cincinnati, (.^hio. The application was approved and 
the applicant assigned to the .Army of Occupation before 
he realized that he ha^l been grossly misunLlerstood. 



When Jack Hiemel was told that the homecijming of 
his regiment would in no way affect his continuing to 
serve his countr\', it could hardly be said that he was 
greatly enthused. ;\n order retaining all veterinarians 
for dut\- with the .Army of Occupation came too late to 
allow jack to send his regrets and claim exemption. 

Harr\- Williams, who left B Batters' at Camp Sheridan 
to go overseas with a detachment of mechanics, was still 
boring cylinders and cutting shafts in some shop near 
Is.soudun. I-'rancc. when his former "playmates" came 
home. Down in Barbcrton. Ohio. Harry Jr. was an.xiously 
awaiting the arrival of the Papa that he had never seen. 

Of course the single men might possibly be excused if 
they had easy jobs and elected to stay "over there" a 
little longer, for it must be admitted that if one had the 
time there were plenty of amusements to be enjoyed in 
some cities the "mai-lamoisclles" were not at all hard to 
look at. 



Whistling Jake 



ALTHOUGH B Battery had its share of singers, the 
musical talent of the outfit was not entirely conffned 
to singing. There were the famous ukelele plavers, Holton 
Ford and L'reddie Lxner who could be heard quite olten 
strumming some Hawaiian tune I hen the piano 
players too, furnished music whenever a piano could be 
found to play upon. In this line Percy Harris. "Tub" 
Lamiell and "Bunker-Bean" Tor^l furnished most of the 
amusement 

The most unique entertainment though, was furnished 
by the famous whistler. L^lwar^l Jacobs. For silver- 
throated, triple-tongucLl whistling Jake ha^l the \ aLitle- 
V illian Kellog souneling like a one-lungcel recruit \\ hist- 
ling was Jakes one hobby; a sort of an accomplishment 
with him Although he no doubt enjtfyeLl the singing 
of the other boys, he never broke into song himsell. 
Jake couki be heard whistling as he got out ol his 
bunk in the morning, on his wa\ to mess and on some 
occasions even while he was eating. In lact it was 



seldom that one saw Lddic when he wasn't whistling. 

His extensive repertoire included such masterpieces as: 
"I he Rosary." "Poet and Peasant." and selections from 
such operas as "II Trovatorc" and "fiigoletto." These 
latter selections were among his favorites, but Jake was 
able to whistle the latest popular just as well as some ol the 
okl lavorites. 

Since he would whistle under any and all circumstances 
he often heard sarcastic remarks regarding his efforts 
but undatinted. Jake whistled on. only changing his tune 
m tin effort to soothe the dissatisfied ones. 

The jotirnev' home was a heart-breaker lor Jacobs, 
(".oming. as he did, on a battle-ship, he was forbiLlden, by 
a stan>.ling or^ler in the nav y. from w histling. I hat was 
one orcler that Jake said was a elisgrace to the service. 

.After arriving m the L'. S. A. though. Jake gav e vent 
to his pent-up feelings an^l such whistling as was hear^l 
in B Battery at Camp Stuart is seldom heard anywhere. 



Curry's Way 



ONE of the Ohio papers earned a story one time about 
Ralph Cxirry and his B Battery kitchen. The story 
quoted Curry as saying his cooks could make six-hundred 
doughnuts from a bucketful of sweet dough. Some yap 



from a I'oletlo hotel read the storv' anel w rote to ask Curry 
how it could be done. Ralph answered the Toledo cook 
an^l told him he could do it by getting a big enough 
bucket of dough and by making the doughnuts smaller. 



Page 200 



The Red (iiiidon 



Delousing 



"\ yiUCH was printed in the newspapers during the war 
^^ i- and the subsequent denidl^ilization. of the famous 
and erstwhile troublesome Coolie — his haunts and habits, 
but. of the processes of elimination too little has been 
brought to the public attention. There were men in 
"B ' Battery who were ready to sv\ear that the eradica- 
tion was much worse than the occupation. 

B Battery's first experience with one of these ■'infernal 
machines" came while the fellows were enjoyin.g the 
hospitality of Baron Chalet at Chateau du Mas, (")rders 
came from General Headquarters that e\ery man before 
loading on a ship had to undergo the "delousing' process. 
The nearest delousing outfit being on the outskirts of 
Angers, arrangements were made to haul the men to that 
place to undergo the ordeal. 

Everything in a man's possession, with the exception 
of leather and metal, was supposed to enter the steam 
chamber while the man himself took a hot hath using 
kerosene soap. Section b>- section the hatter\ journeyed 
to Angers and returned looking like Rip \an Winkle 
after his mem- 
orable sojourn 
into the Cats- 
kills. Truly 
the old ex- 
press i o n. 
"Somet hing 
that the cat 
dragged in" 
c o u 1 l1 w e 1 1 
h a \ e b e e n 
applied to B 
Battery when 

all were through. Blouses w ere shrunken out of all pro- 
portion; breeches and caps were wrinkled and discolored 
beyond recognition while o\ercoats were impossible. The 
only things that e\er came through the operation w ith 
any semblance of their former condition were the blank- 
ets and packs. 

Had the friends and relatives of Steve Marvin. Percy 
Harris, Oda Reynolds, Frank (Skeets) Werner and Bill 




Murphy seen them after their return from Angers that 
day. it is doubtful if the\' would ha\e recognized them. 
Of course, these were only a few of the worst but the 
entire battery bore the semblance of a saK'age dump on 
the front. 

Personal prKJe and a few orders soon brightened up 
the uniforms again. Roscoe. the able (,). M. Sergeant, 
soon had a few new outfits which he issued out with 
his Lisual reser\e, A pressing establishment was installed 
in the basement of the chateau and the wrinkled uni- 
forms were soon pressed into shape again. 

Again at Brest a few were subjected, quite \oluntarily. 
to the decootieizing process, for while it was not made 
compulsory, some felt the need of an elimination of the 
obnoxious "tickling " sensation on their anatomy. 

Lea\'ing the ship at Newport News no one thought of 
cooties. In fact, had e\ery man been co\ered w ith them 
he wouIlI ha\e forgotten them in th.- joy of being Home. 
About the third day in Camp Stuart though, the battery 
again recei\'ed orders to ha\e their belongings "par 
boiled." V)\ this time most of the fellows had learned 
ways of e\ading the worst of the consequences of the 
trip to the steam chamber. By carefully folding the 
clothing before placing it on the hangers much of the 
w rinkling could be avoided. The second compulsory ex- 
cursion through the "clothes butchery" left the battery 
m a little better shape than the prc\ious trip. Fred 
Robinson. Fred Cunningham and Carl Schrank may take 
exceptions to the foregoing statement but the battery as 
a whole made a more presentable appearance. 

The huge laundry and pressing establishment of the 
camp was at the battery's disposal for the reju\enation 
of the uniforms and so with the aid of a few articles 
issued b\' the genial Quartermaster Sergeant the battery 
assumed a fair appearance for the trip and subsequent 
parades in Cle\eland. Akron and Columbus. 

Cooties sureK' must be classed as one of the greatest 
expenses of the war, for the eradication of them cost the 
government countless thousands ol dollars for new 
uniforms, to say nothing of the gasoline used to operate 
the delouser and the kerosene used for bathing. 



English and French 



A GREAT many times in I Vance when a B Bat- 
■^»- tery soldier met a French soldier and opened a 
conversation in A. E. V. French, the brenchman would 
answer him back in good English, This always embar- 
rassed the boys. 

One day Howard Miller saw a Frenchman with a 



sou\enir he wanted and proceeded to inc|Uire about it. 
Howari.1 employeel a mixture ol hatl Ir.nghsh antl worse 
I'rench m his conversation while the f'renchman stood 
listening, stupid looking. /M'ter Miller finished, the 
b'renchman said. "Sure son. you can have it. \\ hat the 
hell do you want it for^" 



The Red (iiiidon 



Page 201 



"Louise' 



Camp Pontenazen 



TME Battery may 
forget Lion cle An- 
f;crs, but w ho cannot 
picture on the instant 
the charming little 
ri{i,Liie and saucy eyes 
of "petite madamoi- 
selle Louise" of the 
"Hotel de la Gare " 

[3o \()U fail to recall 
tile little pLihlic room 
with tile lon.Lj table 
down the center anel 
the row of small lables 
on one side broken 
to allow space lor the 
t inkl inji, a ti torn at ic 
piano. 

Anel Lotiise! f^id 
wc not lall in love with her at Inst sight. Louise' She 
had smiles for all, an^l kisses for a fa\orei-l few. 'twas 
a good thing she was not a grown-tip young la^ly. How- 
many broken heads and black eyes might haw resulted 
from our rivalry. 

As it was, we went to an\' lengths to w in her atlection. 
We stood for hours in the ^'. M. C. A. canteen-Hne to bu\' 
a cake of chocolate or a box of cakes, and straight-way 
marched up to the cafe and presented them to Louise, 
with our most courtK manners. Our Irench was A. E. L.. 
but we all learned to say "L-ouise. tres joli: je \ous 
aime; je \ous aLlore," 




AITER all that had been published in the newspapers 
ab.out the unsanitar\ con^litions at Brest, B Battery- 
men were somewhat stirprise^l to find things as good as 
they were there, f'or months the newspapers had been 
printing stories about the mud and filth abounding in 
the embarkation camps there When, after the long 
wear\ hike, the Battery finalh' landed at the Pontenazen 
(lamp. the\ found the streets all boarded with "duck" 
walks and the mess-halls all coxered. True, it was all 
new lumber that appeared in these two utilities, thus 
giving e\ Klence that thc>' were recent improvements, 
but. as far as B Battery was concerned, f-^rest was an 
agreeable surprise 

No doubt lile in that camp lor anv' length of time 
would have become very monotonous. The tents that the 
Battcrv lived in were not of the best quality and in 
several sections it was necessarv for the fellows to sleep 
under their cots to avoid the incessant rain, but ha^l they 
remained for any lengtfi of time in the camp, that couLl 
have easily been adjusted, 

.Although the stav' in Gamp Pontenazen was not a 
lengthv' one, it was long enough to allow most of the 
Batterymen the privilege G) of serving on one of the 
famous Brest details. Iliese details worked day and 
night in keeping the camp in condition and those who 
escaped one of them were lucky indeed. During B 
Battery s four-Llav' sojourn there, it was very few who 
escaped a detail ol some kind. 

The iourney from Camp Pontenaren to the docks — 
although m realty somewhat longer — seemed much 
shorter, than the hike from the train to the camp, to the 
homeward bound B Batterymen. 



Brest 



AFTER the last short ride on F-rench railroads that 
landed B Batterv in Forest and after that memorable 
first meal in that citv' the men were ready to drop into the 
billets located nearby close both to the railroad and the 
docks, but such was not for them. 

.About noon the packs were again siting an^l a hike 
started that might have been pleasing to a Cook tourist 
wIto had all the time he wanted, but to the Batterymen 
v^ho were supposed to keep going in absolute ignorance 
of the quaint surroundings, it was an awful strain. 
Through the narrow streets of Brest where the continuous 
rain kept a steady stream of water (lowing over the cobble- 
stone paving ani.1 where the children with their funnv 
wooden shoes rattled over the rough side walks. In and 



out around the high, narrow buildings the column went 
always upward. In some cases the streets were at an 
.ingle of as much as fjfty degrees. 

Past Camp l^incoln they kept on their wav', now on 
board-walk, now in mud, but alwavs upward until at 
last after a five mile hike with lew rests the top was 
reached and by ^.lescending a slope mtich more gradual 
that the one just ascended the embarkation camp was 
reached. Past hundreds of billets the Battery kept going 
expecting at each turn to be assigned to one of them, 
but not until all the wooden barracks were passed did the 
commani.! "Halt" come in iront of several sciuare miles of 
tents. 



Page 202 



The Red Guidon 



U. S. S. New Hampshire 



A r-TER the impressions of ocean ti"a\'el formed by the 
■^^- B [iatterymcn on the trip to France on board the cat- 
tle ship "Nestor," it was not with the fondest anticipation 
that they awaited the announcement of the name of the 
ship which was to bring them home. All felt confident 
that it could not be the same ship, the "Nestor," that 
would be the carrier on this journey, for it was estimated 
that in the nine months that had elapsed since the tiip 
from the U. S. A., surely the old tub had fallen apart. 

On the morning of March 1 2th. then, when the Battei\ 
finally left Brest on board the little lighter, boLind for the 
majestic looking fieet of American battleships about a 
mile out in the harbor it was in a \ery happy mood. And 
why not ^ Were they not homewaid bounci and destined 
to make the trip on one of those graceful looking \essels 
just ahead, rather than one of the clumsy looking freighters 
anchored back in the harbor^ 

It was not definitely known which ol the huge iron "sea 
wagons" was to be honored l->y B Battery's company to 
America, and for that matter it was of little importance. 
But when the lighter pulled up alongside the V. S. S. New 
Hampshire, it was seen at once that a different journey 




was in store. I he lighter had no sooner thrown out its 
"small line." than shouts of "Howdy" and welcoming 
jibes from the neatly clad "Cjobs" assured the Batterymen 
that they were to meet a genial crew. 

Some difficulty in making the lighter last caused a 
delay of about a half hour in unloading during which 
time the Batterymen amused themselves and the sailors 
by throwing their Red Cross sox. containing jam and 
tobacco, on deck, trying to ring a "gobbles" neck with 
them. I he men were friends before they ever stepped 
on the plank of the New Hampshire. In fact some were 
e\en calling each other by their first names before the 
gang-plank was fi.xcd and Boatswain loley yelled "Come 
on." 



After coming on board and storing their packs in 
what seemed to them the bottom of the ocean, the 
homewaivl bouni.1 soldiers were gi\en hammocks and 



^ !' ^|il|i'^' ! i\ 




assigned hooks on which to hang them. By this time 
the anchor was up an^l the ship under way. It was 
about three P. M. ani.1 the receding shores of France 
presented a beautiful aspect in the golden rays of the 
afternoon sun. 

Of course the first da\' found some of the liatterymen, 
victims of the dreaded "mal de mer," but it was a small 
"some," and with a \ery few exceptions all were up and 
going on the second day out. 

On the thir^l da\' the "Range binder," of which more 
anon, announced an entertainment for the soldiers and 
crew aboard, thus, further proving the spirit ol "cama- 
radiere" existing between the soldiers and "Gobbles." 

Some of the Batterymen took part in this entertain- 
ment which consisted of boxing, singing and speaking 
and a \ery appreciati\e audience pronounced it a great 
success. 

Ihe "Range binLler." the little paper which announced 
the smoker, as the entertainment was called, made its 
first appearance the second day out. It was a little two- 
page paper about six inches scjuare printed on the ship's 
press. For six da>s it published the. "up to the minute" 
news- taken from the w ireless, and therealter, kept the 
men interested w.'ith its yarns of the sea and gi\'ing the 
ship's position in the Atlantic, e\ery day. 

To the B Batterymen and other soldiers on the ship 
to whom the opportunity of "touring " (used acKisedly) 
the ship was presented the New Hampshire was one of 
the wonders of the age. None of the men e\cr thought 
there w as so much machinery on a ship. I he entire 
bottom of the crLiiser was full of motors, dynamos and 
machinery. Ihe huge guns, which almost everyone 
inspected were also a cause for wonderment. The 
artillerymen so used to their 75's guns cotikl hardly 
fathom these huge twehe inch rifles. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 203 



The meals were beyond reproaeh an^l the sleeping 
quarters, although somewhat erowxlei.!, weie mueh hettei' 
than those iised in the trip to lianee. 



:::p^ 



%^r^'^ 






r^ 




I he mo\ ing pietures e\ery afternoon and evening 
were a treat to the fellows and the canteen which sold 



the most appetizing apples and candy was much patron- 
ized. 

1 he second hriday out, and another, a farewell 
Smoker was announced, but inclement weather caused 
its postponement until Saturday afternoon. It, also, 
was a grani.1 success and w as \ery heartily rccei\ ed by the 
enthusiastic audience ot soldiers and sailors. Another 
affair was given by the Chief Petty Officers for the 
Sergeants on board that same night and those attending 
pronounceel it, as everything else on the New Hampshire. 
Lin beau icleal. 

When the "Range binLlcr announced on the eleventh 
dav that It was only about two huntlixd anel filtv miles to 
"Gods Count i\',' cver\' soldier on boar^l would have 
been glad to reassure Captain Mcl.ean, the genial skipper, 
upon his hope, vouchsaletl m the first issue of the "Range 
Finder." Surely their homecoming dated from the time 
they arrived on board the New Hampshire. A crew of 
gentlemen on a good old ship — we salute them always. 



America 



UF-'ON landing at the pier in Newport News the feeling 
of being absolutely at home had not vet struck the re- 
turning B Battervmen, but by the time thc\- ha^l walked 
through the "Welcome" arch and out on the streets of 
the citv', the inhabitants had reassurcLl them. 

It was hartllv' to be expectCLl that the people ol that 
city would go to any trouble to w elcome anyone so common 
as the homecoming ^'anks must have been to them. 
Ships arriv ing every ^lav' brought in another detachment 
of the A. 11. F. and one would think that they would have 
become ver\- tired of cheering a bunch of strange boys 
every clay, but such was not the case by any means. 
The people of Newport News, the first Americans to see 
the returning B Batterymen, tenelercel them a very 
hearty welcome an^l helpeel wonderfully to shorten the 
long hike to Camp Stuart, about four miles away 

The delegation of Ohio folks who were in tlie East to 
welcome the homecoming 37th Division were the aiiLlicncc 
for a review of the h2nd Brigade on the third day at the 
camp. Lieutenant Cjovernor [irown who was the chair- 



man of the delegation spoke on behalf of the C3hio people, 
welcoming the men back to their lormcr homes. 

Newport News was favorci,! by visits from a great 
manv of the Batterymen who almost exhausted the 
supplv of ice cream and other tlelicacies not louni.1 in 
Irance. The theatres too, olTcreel a means ol amusement 
that had been elenied them lor a long time and every 
night would find some of the fellows in the ticket line of 
some theatre. 

Ihc most noteworthy thing of the entire stay at 
Camp Stuart was the mess It was the most luxurious 
and extravagant that it hael ever been B Battery's 
privilege to partake of, anv where. In a vain effort to 
spend the mess-fund that had aeeumulatCLl in brance. 
Mess Sergeant Outlani.1 served ice cream several times 
an'.l no meal was prcpareel without some sort of Iruit lor 
clcsert 

Camp Stuart was pronounccLl by li Battery as one of 
the best thev' hael ever been privileged to v isit. 



''A Cross de Sea' 



THE Cthio artillery batteries backed up a ^livision of 
.American negroes during the first davs on the line. 
I he colored boys were good fighters hut thev' were liet- 
ter at plav' and the batterymen heartl more funnv' com- 
ments on the war and the soldiers than the\- had heard 
any place before. 



A big Tennessee negro was telling Don Scott and 
1 arry I-'etch one day about the cross of war an^l the rest 
of the hero medals 

"Brother," he said, "you can keep \o' Cross o' War 
and yo' \'ictor' Cross; what ah wants is across the sea." 




We're bdck 
t^rom France 



W[:'RE home. Our O.D's are laid aside and for- 
,Li.otten. The old gas mask that used to drag at 
our necks and the tin elerby that hael so many uses — 
where are they'' A mess kit is nothing now hut a mem- 
ory, and a pair of hob nails aie worthy of a place in the 
Smithsonian Institute. We think of fort Ben, hut 
mostly of Indianapolis. 1 houghts ol Camp Sheridan are 
lost in thoughts of friends made in Montgomery. Mem- 
ories of the good ship "Nestor" are sweetene^l b\' me- 
mories of the rettirn trip on the L'. S. S. "New Hamp- 
shire." 

At times when we meet some of the "okl sweats" we 
think ol those times we worked together and played 
together during the months in training but more often 
our "Do you rcmember's" take us across the Atlantic to 
1 "ranee. 

It isn't the hardships we think of now. One forgets 
the pett\' things that used to bother us ani:l we remember 
only the places and incidents that we choose to remember. 

Do you remember the trip through England, with its 
beautiful hedged fields and the lazy ri\ers^ Can you 
forget the first experiences with "40 Hommes — 8 Chev- 
aux"" ' W ho IS there that would forget Cestas — the won- 
^lerful weather and the prnileges we enjoycLl there — the 
first \in blanc an^l the struggle with the new language'' 

W hen NOLI think ol Camp lIc Souge \ou almost forgot 
the sand and the grim\- dust ani.1 the long days of drill. 
Martignas, the little \ illage below the balloon school 
holcis memories for some of us that we would not want 
to forget. Remember the walk into St. McLlari.! through 
the hamlets with their pink and laxencler and blue stucco 



houses: fancy, musical comecK' houses that would look 
out of place o\er here'' Back there in la belle France 
they are in their proper setting amid acres of vineyards 
in the \alleys between the hills of France. 

^ oil ha\en't forgotten your first impressions of war 
scarred France'' Rexigny, and the cellars in ruined 
l^aimont where we lay in reserve before going to the 
front'' And oh. the number of just such villages we saw 
afterward^ 

Do you still remember the camp beyond Pompey in 
the foothills of the Vosges Mountains, where we slept a 
couple nights on shehcs cut into the hillsK.les'' 

Do you remember our first position on the Marbache 
sector near St. Gene\ lexe'' At our feet spread one of the 
characteristic panoramas of France. The tile roofs of 
Ville-a-Val showing rose colored in the sunlight and the 
stone of the church spire rising out of the autumn trees'' 
Off to our right the poplar lined Moselle unwotind itself 
like a siher thread. I^arther to our right lay Mont 
St. Jeanne, with Pont a Mousson at the foot, and on the 
crest the monument to Jeanne d.Aic. 

Millery. our first echelon, brings back to mind the 
beautiful refugee from \lelr. Surely there is nothing 
one wouki rather think of m connection with Millery 
than the bloni-l beaut \ who was held a prisoner m Metz 
for six months. 

C^amp Quest, where we rested after leaving the Mar- 
bache sector — beautiful with its red and yellow autumn 
woods — brings back the memory of the night ride to 
.Apremont ani.1 its rums ani.1 the okl German dugouts on 
the hill. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 205 



La Ferme St. Louis in the Pannes sector above Vig- 
neuUes holds the best memories of the war for those who 
were there. The long uncertain iiours and the hard 
work; the mud and the inconxeniences were all tempered 
by the excitement and the feeling of satisfaction that 
goes with a job well done. But always yoLi will think 
of the eleventh day of November, when the armistice 
was signed, when you think of our positions in the woods 
of the St. Louis Farm. 

Possibly our time spent on the front was neither as 
long nor as spectacular as some other outfits, but our 
work was efficiently done an^l our most sincere com- 
mendations came neither from Division nor Corps Com- 
manders, but were gi\en freely and verbally by the 
doughboys as they returned back from the lines after we 
had fired a barrage. And they hollered in to us where 
we were cleaning our guns, "^'ou placed em right where 
we wanted em, Buddy. Good work'" L^idn't it always 
make you a little more than proud of your outfit, your 
officers and yourself, that you could "place 'em right 
where they wanted 'em^" 

Crowning a period of work and excitement came the 
order one midnight to mo\e. Do you remember^ We 
were going to parade in Washington on Christmas Day 
then, and we all felt in mighty good spirits that night 
as wc followed our guns hack o\er the road to Vignculles, 
where our echelon was. When the men m echelon 
were not busy hauling ammunition up to the positions 
or doing other work which was necessary behind the 
line, there were always interesting things to see and 
interesting places to go — Hattonchattcl and the German 
camp near Heudicourt "Wilhelmstrausse." 

Next came the time of waiting. First Camp \ lanaux, 
and then Camp du (lianois, on the opposite hill. Days, 
weeks, nearly three months passed. Three months of 
riunors. Three months of monoton\-. broken onl\- now 
and then by such things as Judge Chaptnan's Court or 
the Buck Pri\ates Association and the Christmas Show. 
Not so bad, were they!' Those days back on the hill 
that God forgot. If we had not been anxious to mo\c, 
we would have enjoyed our time spent on the hill al?ove 
Rambluzin. It was a beautiful time of the year when we 
got there. I he trees across the \alley were all manner 
of purples — red purple and a beautiful rich purple with 
a blue cast lor the shadows. Ihc occasional splotches 
of Van Dyke brown were lined decoratixely by the forms 
of the trunks of the trees. At our feet Rambluzin look- 
ing e\er so picturesque against the backgroLintl ol the 
hills and the woods. 

Rumors finally began to materialize. Our horses 
were turned in and our materiel lollowcel. We were 
turned o\er to the SOS and finally back to our own 
division. I hat really was one of our proudest moments. 
Denied the chance to fight behinel our own infantry 
time after time, we were at last privileged to join our 
division to go home and every man was proud to see the 



Divisional Insignia on his left slecxe abo\c his serxice 
stripe. 

At last came mo\ing orders anel another riele a la 
"40 Hommes — 8 Che\aux." Who will forget that ride 
and the "Battle of Bourges^" The end of our journey 
lound us at Le Lion de Angers — near Angers in the Le 
Mans district. 

The time spent at the Chateau elu Mas with inspec- 
tions of all sorts and nightly excursions into Le Lion 
de Angers when we dined on pomme ele terre and vin 
blanc. and where some of us made \ lolent lo\e to petite 
Louise at the Hotel de la Gare — good times those, which 
came to an end b\ our short sta\- at Forest, where we 
were inspected again and again. 

k^inally came that da\- of i.lays. when on the twelfth 
of March we loaded onto the L'. S. S. "New Hampshire" 
from the lighter; then followed twehe wonderful days 
and twelve crowded nights, when we slept in three tiers 
of packed humanity only to be awakened by the mentors 
morning song — "Rise and shine, soldier. Up all ham- 
mocks." 

True, it was with fine feeling we boarded the boat on 
the twelfth of March, but it was finer — a much finer one, 
when we elisembarked shorth' after mess on the twenty- 
fourth of .March. 

Remember those paraeles through Cleveland, .Akron 
and Columbus, after our short stay at Camp Stuart^ 
Remember them!' Those last long miles — helmets, gas 
masks and packs ^ Don't you wish you could forget 
them^ 

Alter satisfying the \anity of "the powers that be" 
came Camp Sherman. The last fi\e days. finall\- the 
last Llay, the last sleep on an arm\- cot, the last meal, 
the last formation, the wonderful leel of the paper our 
discharges were written on, and then — free men! civilians' 
We belongei.1 to oursehes once more. 

L^o you still remember how your trousers flapped 
around your ankles those first few days, and how funny 
it seemed to be m "ci\ ies ' once more^ 

And now we're a long time out. ^'ou'll admit that 
was a wonderful bunch to soldier with — a fine loyal set 
ol men. knendships made as those were made — under 
conditions that bring out the worst as well as the best 
in a man — are frienelships never to be forgotten. We 
belong to a fraternitv with no secret codes or signs, but 
always on the honor of a gentleman and it will do well 
to remember that we are still members of "B" Battery. 

Fish Clilf Schnake trying to make a watch crystal out 
of a beer bottle on the first front. 

* * * * 

Fish Geo. Fox when he got measured for a saeldle at 

Souge. 

+ * * * 

Do you remember Kavenagh's birthday party? 



Page 'JlXi 



The Red (liiidon 



Camp Sherman 



CAMP Sherman at last, and a tired and worn crowd it 
was that piled so eagerly off the tourist sleepers at 
five A. M. that morning, v\elcoming a promise ol rest after 
the series of parades that had just been completed. Packs 
were made and soon the boys were on their \\a\ , whither 
no one knew, but each hael \ isions ol a good breaklast at 
the end of the last lull pack hike 

And then the barracks, tine familiar, long, t\\()-stor\, 
wooden buildings with room for o\ er a hundrei.1 men each. 
The barracks were quickly assignei.1 and withm were 
iron cots with well filled ticks atop of them, an in\iting 
sight to be SLire, Packs, belts and oxcrcoats were quickb- 
disposed of and mess-kits began to rattle as the cr\- ol 
■'When do we eaf" passed from mouth to mouth. 
L^reakfast, in regular style, was soon dispatchc^l anLl 
long before noon the Battery clerks were becoming 
acquaintecl with the task of demobilization which con- 
frontCLl them 1 lere was the beginning ol the ciilI, 

What a mess of papers there was; physical examination 
slips, transportation slips, insurance slips, certificates ol 
discharges — ani.1 the discharges themseKes, each rc^|uiring 
the signature of the man lor whom it was made; while 
there were other records to be filled out besides, in orelei 
that the usual amount of red tape might be use^l, loo, 
there were the pa>roll5, buit these were haiiLllcd by 




Regimental 1 le.i^L|i.iarteis, an^l the Batlerymen had but 
to sign 'l Oungs impresseel man\ into ser\ ice an^l as a 
result Monday night a lull twehe hours ahead of the 
time limit, the papers ol the Balter\ were ready lor the 
final inspection, 

("In Monday came the physical examination antl that 
e\'cning nothing remaine^l to be done but to await the time 



when the worci should be given to fall in, in payroll forma- 
tion, for the last time. 

There ensueel a seemingK interminable period of 
waiting, but Wednesday brought definite ad\ ice that on 
the morrow, was the reckoning and along with it came 
the worel to turn in ticks and blankets, leaving only the 




mess-kits an^l personal prr)perty ol the men, as all other 
equipment haLl been lurnei.1 in to Poling two days prior 
to this time. 

Wednesday night was spent "lull-pack ' with only 
cnercoats lor covering, but no one seemed to mind — for 
It was the last night in the army. 

1 hurselay morning gave promise ol rain, which was 
fulfilled later but it woukl have taken something more 
than rain to dampen the spirits of the boys that morning. 
Breakfast was C|uicklv finished, mess-kits were given up 
and the fellows fell to, to police u.p the barracks. Floors 
were swept, stoves were cleaneel out anel everything left 
spick and span, as things always were when the Battery 
left them. 

.'\t eight-thirtv the Batterv' fell in pavroll formation, 
and shoitiv' thereafter thev' "squads righted ' and were 
off, Arriv ed abotit nine o'clock at the indicated building, 
there occLirred a wait and during this time advantage was 
taken of the army's last hand-out Sandwiches and 
coffee were being served nearby and a line soon formed 
as the bovs learned of the "free eats " It was not long, 
however, in actual time at least--although to most of 
them It seemei.1 an age — before the Battery's turn came, 
and filing into the building each man receiv ed his final pay, 
plus sixtv dollars bonus an^l travel pav to place of en- 
listment, and his discharge, and then into the open air — 
free men again. Civilians! 



Harry the Joker 



LIBL'TENANT Harry Hosback and another officer 
watched an air battle in b ranee one day. They saw 
the German plane finally beaten and watched it as it rolled 
over and started downward. Something fell out of the 



machine as it turned over and the other officer re- 
marked that the I'ord engine was falling out of the 
plane. "Nope, " said Hosback, "if it was a Ford you 
could hear it rattle," 



The Red Guidon 



Page 207 



The Last Day 



WHEN the order came to B Battery to separate the 
organization into units w hich were to he discharged 
at ditferent camps in America there was a busy da\- ahead 
for the men in charge of the paper work of the Battery. 
This order came at Le Lion cle Angers and for two nights 
and two days Earl Votings, Bill Summers and any one 
else that could he impressed into ser\ ice worked diligently 
in getting the different sailing lists and pa\rolls made up. 
There were fi\e of each of these so there was little rest 
for the boys on the job from the time they started until 
two days before the Batterv left for Brest when the lists 
were completed and taken to regimental headquarters 
about three o'clock in the morning. 

Upon arri\'ing at Brest the detachments were sej^arated 
and each one was handled as a unit. It was the intention 
to ha\e every man discharged as near to his hom.e as 
possible. Hence, the men li\ing in the eastern part of 
the states were assigned to an eastern camp. Camp Upton 
or Camp Dix; the men from the south to Camp Green, 
S. C. while the western men were to go to Camp Taylor 
to spend their last days in the army. These four detach- 
ments took only about thirty percent of the Batterymen 
which left about one-hundred tw.enty-fhe men to be 
discharged in the Ohio Camp — Camp Sherman. The 
history of the Battery from Brest until they reached 
ci\ilian life concerns only this Ohio detachment. 

When the Camp Sherman detachment was called out, 
on the morning of March 12th to embark for America, 
there were about se\enty-fi\e B Batterymen who would 
have been willing to claim Ohio as their home, whereas 
they Ii\ed either in the east, south, or west, and were bound 
for the demobilization camp nearest their homes, Ihe 
thought of B Battery being split up before leaving 1- ranee 
did not appeal to them for these unlucky fellows were 
doomed to wait for another ship to carry them back to 
God's country, and the date of its lea\ing was quite un- 
known to them. 

For seven more days of rain, mud and details the re- 
maining detachments navigated around the Brest camp, 
every morning expecting to recei\e worcl to embark for 
home. 

After weathering all the "flu" epidemics and infantile 
paralysis scares it remained for this camp to boost the 



hospital list for B Liattery. Before the C,amp Green and 
Camp la\lor detachments were started on their way, 
Da\-e Smith, J. N. Shere, Sam Bowman and about four 
others were sent to the "base" for treatment. The 
dampness pro\ed too much for them anel grip germs 
found a home. 

The President Grant cleared Brest on the afternoon 
ol the l^^th ol March carrxing about fort\-eight hun^lred 
soldiers, homeward bound and among these were B 
Battery's Camp Green and Camp Taylor detachments. 
After fourteen da\s of ocean tra\el. two of which were 
days of storms and squalls, the transport landed at 
Newport News. The journey across had been an enjoy- 
able one on a comfortable ship and everyone greeted the 
faithful Newport News welcomers with smiles. 

1- rom April 2nd to 1 1 th these men enjo\ed and endured 
the same privileges and routine as the Camp Sherman 
detachment that had but recently left Camp Stuart. 

It was discovered, as soon as they arrived in the 
Newport News Camp, that it was impossible to carry 
out the original plan and be discharged near their home, 
so the Batterymen were quite disgusted for on the 11th 
they climbed on a train bound for Camp Sherman. 

A detachment was formed of all men living in Illinois 
but B Battery's contingency could hardly be classed as a 
^letachment for it onlv' contained one man — M. M. Shere 
He left Camp Stuart at the same time as the other Camp 
I aylor and Green detachments and was discharged from 
the service on the same da\ . 

Alter the usual "red tape " and paper work these 
detachments were all sent happily on their way as civilians 
.April 17th, just seven davs alter the Camp Sherman 
detachment. 

Ihe fortv odd men in the Camp lavlor detachment 
were the only ones to eventually arrive at and be eiis- 
charged from the camp to which they had been assigned, 
The\- arrived in Camp Taylor on the same day as the 
Camp Green boys did in Camp Sherman anLl were dis- 
charged on the same day but nearer home. 

I hree days after the Camp Taylor and Camp Green 
detachments left Brest, orders were received for the 
remaining detachments of B Battery to embark, so, 
more than three weeks after the first Battervmen had 



Page WH 



The Red Guidon 



lelt France the last detachment sailed. This last con- 
tingency contained the men hound lor Camps Dix and 
L'pton. iliese men had the honor ol returning on one 
of the largest transports afloat, the Ac|uatania. 

Ihese detachments too, had a very enjoyable trip 
across the .'\tlantic. The big ship carried o\er fixe thou- 
sand soldiers and fne hundred civilians on this trip and 
among the civilians were many notables including Sir 
Thomas Lipton and Mrs. E. H. Southern (Julia Marlow). 
During the journey two smokers were held on board for 
the men, and. as they say in the Owen County Mullen 
Leaf — Mike Green's favorite paper — "a good time was 
had by all. " 

just seven days after leaving France these men were 
in Camp Mills awaiting orders to go to their separate 
camps for demohiliration. Orders to that effect never 
came however, and so, after sixteen davs of anxietv 



spent in the New jersey camp, these detachments were 
also sent to Camp Sherman to be mustered out. 

It will alwavs be a regret to the men of B Battery 
that they could not have been together during the last 
days of its career, inasmuch as they were all eventually 
sent to the same camp for demobilisation. It is only 
another story of a break in the rei.1 tape that marked 
evcrv' movement of the liatterv', 

April 24th saw the last physically fit B Batterymen 
dischargee! from the service, and with the exception of 
about ten men, the old organization was again in civilian 
clothes. The unlucky boys, who had contracted slight 
cases of pneumonia or bronchitis were held in f'rance, and 
returned one by one until the middle of June when the 
return of ,\liles Rubright marked the last uniformed B 
Battervman's entrance to Akron. 



B Battery's Citations 



A Ll HOUGH they were included in the citations given 
to the regiment as a whole, it is none of these that 
will be the most cherished by the Battervmen in their 
memories of the activities in France. 

Llneier this same cover there is a citation that all 
in the entire regiment should be proud of. It is an 
official looking affair and can be kept for reference, in 
the years to come, but to some of the Batterymen such 
a document is entirely unnecessary. lo the men on the 
gun-crews at the last front in b ranee, memory will serve 
to recall B Battery's citation. 

It was from the doughboys of the 3 3rd and the 28th 
Divisions that this citation came. It wasn't a lengthy 
treatise on the merits of the organization, but it meant 
more to the men at the gtms than a dozen official papers 
from some general. It was a sincere and earnest state- 
ment of their opinion of the work of B Battery and who 
is in a better position to deal out citations to a Battery of 
light artillery th^in the men who go over the top under 
their ftre^ 



In the early morning, after a barrage had been thrown 
over, sometimes for two or three hours or more, the fellows 
would see a column of men coming down the road past 
the gun positions. This was always a signal to cease 
work on cleaning the gun and assemble on the edge ol 
the road. As the marching column came nearer the 
Batterymen could see just what the morning's catch had 
been — in Huns. In passing the Battery position, the 
infantrvmen in charge of the prisoners would invariably 
shout some such thing as: 

"Nice work, fellows " "Good barrage." "Best we 
ever went over under." "We can count on you." or some 
such highlv complimentary expression. 

Those doughboys didn t know how much those good- 
natured remarks meant to the fellows working on the 
guns. To them, whose slightest mistake might mean the 
lives of a dozen men in the trenches this was indeed a 
citation and it ofttimes lifted a weight from the minds of 
the artillerymen. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 209 



Contentment 



AN'"^' one familiar with the arm\ will naturall\' scoff 
at the idea of the existence of such a thing as a con- 
tented military organization unless they were with B 
Battery on the front 

It was an exception to be sure, for as a rule B Battery 
was never content with anything. In the face of momen- 
tary danger it may seem rather strange that the fellows 
were so well satisfied, but therein lies a tale and not a 
"detail" either. With so many things around that they 
could ha\'e easily complained ol, they seemed to forget 
them in the contentment o\er what wasn't there. 

There were no buglers so therefore no calls. There 
were no formations to stand and there was no Colonel to 
issue orders. What more couki the hoys ha\e asked'' 
What more could ha\e added to the absolute contentment 
•of the Batterymen'' Back at the echelon there were a 
few calls, but after the first day the formations were 
dispensed with. If there were any complaints thought 
of, they were forgotten in the excitement of dodging 
"whizz-bangs" and watching for enemy aircraft. 

There was surely plent\' of excitement for all in those 
days, from the Battery commander to the man who dro\e 
the ration cart there were thrillers enough to satisfy the 
most enthusiastic "dare-de\ir' mo\ ie fan. The charm 
of battle carried the boys from the old formal army life 
to a regular carni\al oi thrills. 

At the gun positions the gun-crews would get up at 
all hours to fire a barrage while the fellows from the 
echelon carried the ammunition o\er the shell-torn roads 
to the dumps lor the cannoneers to take to their respec- 
ti\e guns. E\'ery man would ha\c balked and squawked at 
any other time in their career, but at the front amul all 



the excitement of the battle. Most of the Batterymen 
can and will look back to the days on the late western 
front as their best in the army. Those days were not 
numerous enough. 

Thanks to Cooks Sedberry, Capron and Mason and to 
Mess Sergeant Curr\-. the eats were all that could be 
expected under the conditions. On several occasions 
they brought hot coffee and bacon sandw iches to the men. 
who were doggedly serving their guns for a long period of 
time. When a barrage was being thrown over in the 
early morning and the order "Cease firing" seemed a long 
way oft, the old kitchen crew certainly made themselves 
solid with the boys by the serving of the two above- 
named army delicacies. 

I he quarters, too, were as good as the fellows had 
expected to find after the stories they had heard of the 
living conditions at the front. Of course at the gun 
positions there was a certain amount of water and rats 
to contend with, but the boys managed to get some sleep 
now and then. At the echelon the quarters were good 
and there was a general feeling of content there, too. In 
one of the nearby towns there was a "^'. M. C. A. canteen 
and since there were no general orders prohibiting it, 
many ot the Batterymen paid this place a \ isit on several 
occasions. 

There were no officers save the Battery's own staff, 
and they were too busy to bother about issuing the sort 
of disciplinary orders that go to make a discontented 
organization. 

Considering the absence of so many of the obnoxious 
elements of the usual army life, it is not so strange after 
all that B Batterv was content on the front. 



Home 



SEARCH this book from cover to cover and you will 
find that if one idea, one subiect predominates, it 
is— "HOME." 

Learned men have said that "Home " is an abode, the 
place where one lives, but it is more than that. .Men — 
soldiers, have lived in camps lor months, have camped in 
pup tents on a steep hillside, have slept in cellars or 
cootie-infested billets which they were wont to call 
"HOME"— -but that was not home. 

It were better then to say that "Home" is where the 
heart is; that bodily occupation alone means nothing. 

And B Batterymen have come to know, as never 
before, the true significance of "Home." In France, in 
camps, in billets and in the trenches. "Home" came to 
mean more to them than a place to "hang their hats," 
They learned that instead of being the commonplace, the 



orclinarv', the matter-of-fact habitat it was once con- 
sidered, it hael become a place of beauty, dreamed of. 
longed tor and pictured in a million ways in contrast to 
the cheerless, lightless and fireless places many of them 
knew through long months of hard gruelling work, on the 
front or back of the lines. 

lo these men. "Home" meant all that there is in life 
to wish for — to them going "Home" meant the realization 
oi the greatest desire of their lives and "Home" to them 
meant the k'nite^l States of America. 

Each man, of course pictured his home, some village, 
some city, but to all "Home" was the good old L'. S. A. 
which meant everything that seemed to be worth while, 
and in them awakened a new patriotism and a new pride 
in the greatest nation extant — the L'nited States — 
THEIR HOME. 



Page 210 



The Red Guidon 



The Medics 



THE Hospital Corps of the First Ohio Field Artillery 
was organized in Noxember. 1Q15, by Dr. EdwarLl 
W. Barton, the Bn. Surgeon. The original members were 
Sergeant Earl Briggs, Sergeant H. W. Barton. Privates 
Alspach. L.uce, Banker. Pinkerton, Case, Timmis. Free- 
man, Willtord, Rafeld, Bexington. ^'ontz, Weiss, King, 
Berry and Mauross. From this number the ones who 
answered the border call were Sergeant Briggs, Sergeant 
Barton, Privates Alspach, Weiss, Rafeld, Willford, King, 
Berry, ^'ontz, Be\ ington and Mauross and from these, 
L. L. King, J no. Berry, Earl Willford and Mauross were 
discharged after the physical examination at Columbus, 
joining the famous Grand Army of the Rejected. 

Dr. E. W. Barton, holding commission as 1st Lieu- 
tenant in the Medical Corps, left Akron, June 25, with 
most of his corps for Columbus and they were the first 
contingent of Ohio troops to mo\e toward Columbus, 
the state center of mobilization in answer to the Mexican 
call, preceding the Infantry and Artillery, joined B Battery 
and Brigade Headquarters at Briggsdale — the Bn. Hq. 
This ga\e them an opportunity to stock up thoroughly 
with iodine and C C pills in readiness tor the achent ot 
the Akron bunch ten days later. 

The hospital was placed in the center at one side of 
the camp at the edge of the golf grounds. 

Dr. H. Barton and Eldon Bevington were detailed by 
Lieutenant Barton to stay with Battery B and examine 
recruits taken on during that interval at Battery B's 
armory, rejoining the Hospital Corps when Battery B 
left for Camp Willis on July 4. 

The two months following, at Camp Willis, were 
busy ones for the corps — small pox. \accinations, injecting 
typhoid serum, and the taking care of the sick artillerymen 
resulting from these, kept all busy, so busy that all the 
Hospital Corps men felt they had little time to groom their 
own horses on the picket line, which worried the Head- 
quarter men terribly. Caring for Nolly's bruisecl leg, 
handsome Dan Carroll's knee. Hoi Jay's broken leg 
helped fill in time and gave practice to the men. The 
most common episode was the bringing in of an artillery- 
man, bruised on the picket line, by a restive steed 
Among the chief thrills of camp life was the breaking in 
of young horses from the farms and making good artillery 
horses of them. 

The hospital also suppled the elements of an embryonic 
^'. M. C. A., relieving the artillerymen who felt the need 
of it, of the arduousness of drill. 1 hey would limp over 
to the hospital with one hand o\er their stomach and if 
iodine was not forthcoming, a spoonful of castor oil was. 
George Wright would ask for heart-balm in the shape of 
a CC pill. Fred Seiberling specialized on epsom salts in 
a tincup. Eddie Romily would come o\er to see if we 
had any medicine to make him last longer. 




One of the big events to the Hospital Corps was the 
tonsil party, when Dr. F3arton had his nurse. Miss Nold, 
come from Akron and they relievccf about two score of 
artillerymen of their tonsils and adenoids, thus rem.oving 
many sore throats from future sick calls. 

It might be related here at the assistance rendered by 
Miss Nold at these operations was the only instance of 
Battery B having a young lady member. (Shafter and 
the tonsils. The CO still declares, etc.) 

Ihe Hospital Corps 
was frequently consulted 
at Camp Willis by Bat- 
ter\- B men as to how 
they could increase weight 
or height in order to pass 
the final exam, to go to 
the border. They were 
also questioned as to how 
they could camouflage a 
w eak heart in order to be 
discharged anci not go to 
the border. These, how- 
e\er, were in the great 
minority, because Battery 
V> men were practically 
unanimous in being 
pro\ed that they were physically lit and all were anxious 
for actixe ser\ice. 

After arrival at Camp Pershing the work of making 
camp consisted of grubbing out cactus, Spanish bayonets 
and mesquite hushes. This stirred up a horde of \icious 
insects as Texas is noted even in song as being fa\'ored — 
"Horns on the fiowers, and horns on the toads, and hell 
fire in the tail of the scorpion. " and opened up a new 
and unknown danger to the tenderfeet from Ohio. Many 
casualties were each day brought to the hospital and 
following the casualty would come a second Battery B 
man bearing the insect responsible, between two sticks, 
or in an empty "gold fish " can. 

Among the notable cases was Roland Thompson, 
who exhibited a beautiful sample of what a strong and 
husky scorpion could do, o\er his right eye. This con- 
fined him to the camp hospital at L'ort Bliss for several 
weeks, until Tommy figured all the cactus was cleared 
away. 



Do you remember the Mexican who sang "Oh! Marie" 
in El Paso'' 



Do you remember the guard-mount music at Camp 
Sherician? 



P(iye 1^/2 ' The Red Guidon 

Army Lines 

When you joined the army say, do you recall that earlv day. 
When you lined up for inspection physical, 
And Doc Barton took your size, from \our arches to your eyes 
And pronounced you fit for ser\ice. 'twas hard lines. 

And the next day after that, bet you'd rather faced a gat. 

Than that anti-toxin needle terrifying;. 
And the anti-smallpox germ, made your left arm quite infirm 

And you got them both by waitmg in a line. 

1 hen you lined up to be mustered and old woof woof got you flustered, 

With his basso and his military bearing 
But you were getting just a taste, of the time you d ha\e to waste 

While you doggedly stood waiting in a line. 

For from reveille to taps, often cutting short your naps. 

^'ou'd fall in and answer 'here" with hesitation. 
Whether drill call or retreat, the whistle brot you to your feet. 

And you'd shuffle slowly out to fall in line. 

In mess line you'd sprightly step, getting there with snap and pep 

b^or the first ones through the line would cop the seconds. 
And then line up near a tub, while some rookie'd slowly rub. 

His mess-kit while you stood there in the line. 

How those Saturday inspections hurried you to make connections 

To be ready for the C. O's. eagle eye. 
Then the Colonel came along, quick to single out each wrong 

And Doc Barton paid his usual respects. 

Or the R. A. Poling line, where you drew dog tag twine 

A hea\y pair of hobnails or some laces, 
Or to the canteen you'd go. spending all your hard earned dough 

But you'd ha\e to wait your turn there in a line. 

^'ou'll recall the picket line, often muddy, never fine 

And those ugly brutes' propensities for kicking. 
And most popular of sports — Marshall Sheets and his cohorts, 

The fistic bouts staged on the picket line. 

Often ^'. M. C. A. lines found you planning awful crimes 

When some sha\etail went ahead to buy supplies. 
Took advantage of his bars, buying candy and cigars 

While enlisted men stood waiting in the line. 

Many miles on railroad lines, in a dozen different climes 

Tourist sleepers or the ft)rty hommes per. 
While Montgomery street car lines, ninety years behinLJ the times 

Had forty hommes per beat by a mile. 

Phone lines too corralled a share of funds of the fiappers there, 

As they pulled the old, old stall and got it by. 
Told that little girl in town, "I'm on guard and can't come down," 

What a blessing, then, there were those blooming lines. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 213 



There were other lines as well, that you've often wished in h_. 

Where you fell in to get half an hour gas practice 
But why explain, for you who did it shall always have the credit 

And leave the tale for you to do the telling. 

'I here were sick lines e\ery morning; lor the men who'd taken warning, 

Of a detail they had heard wouLl he forthcoming. 
So they drew their C. C. pills, cure for any human ills, 

And light duty saved them blisters many times. 

I here were lines one found amusing, lines of shelter tents confusing. 

On a dark night one's own tent was hard to find. 
In the wrong tent you'd blunder, cuss-words greet you and you 'd pondc 

On the uselessness of all these blasted lines. 

0\er there on all the roads, lines of trucks with hea\y loads 

Where on the front in terms quite military, 
One con\ersed of lines of guns, lines of fire towarel the Huns 

And \ou ne\er could escape them if you tried. 

Oh' 1 he lines from home that came, nothing else was quite the same. 
Idling you of "check enclosed" or "package sent" 

And the lines that you returned, for you knew that they were earned, 
Here for once >-ou found some merit in a "line." 

There's a line we 'most forgot, our good fortune that we thought 
01 the line that calls us once each month, no more, 

Tis the pay line we would mention, vou'll admit it needs attention 
Re\i\ing games of poker and crap galore. 

So we found lines to the last, some were slow and some were fast. 

There w ere short ones, and some extremely long. 
But we forget the lines bemoaned, many times where'er we roamed 

They're lost in memory of that "B" line home. 




Page 21 ^ The Red Guidon 

The Battery ''Hymn" 

On the trip to France on the Nestor when everyone was singing to try to forfjet their sickness. 
Captain KaNenagh introduced the song that was destined to J-iecome the fa\orite of the [battery and 
regiment He had heard it wiiile at F^ort Sill. Okla., and had consitlerei,! it the sort ol song that B 
Battery needed. Ihe captain remembered only two \erses at the time, but the remainder came to 
him later and as fast as he remembered them the quartette memorized and sang them 

It was known as the ".Artillery " song and when or where\er the boys got together for a little 
song-fest. the old fa\orite was always called lor by some one in the crowd 

Captain Kavenagh's memory pro\ed so efficient in this case that owing to lack of space only 
a small number of the verses he thought of can be printed here. 

To the tune "When the Roll is Called Up ^ onder." 

When you're lying in the rain 

With some shrapnel in your brain. 

Then you'll never see your sweetheart anymore. 

When the red gap in your jacket 

Shows that Heinie has your bracket. 

Then you'll ne\er see vour sweetheart anxmore. 



Chorus- 



When the guns are roaring Nonder 
When the guns are roaring xon^ler. 
When the guns are roaring yonder 
When the guns are roaring yonder we'll be there 



When the Huns ha\ e your deflection 

And you've lost your old first section 

Then you'll never see the gun-crew anymore 

When the mustard gas is lurking 

And your gas-mask isn't working 

Then voti'll ne\er need a gas mask an\more. 



Chorus — 



\\ hen the guns are roaring yonder 

When the guns are roaring yonder 

When the guns are roaring yonder 

(Base)— Fall in. Call off: (Lead) One; 

(Tenor) — Two: (Baritone) — Three; (Base) — Four. 

When the guns are roaring yonder we'll be there. 



The Red Guidon p^,^^ 215 

When your ammunition train 
Is shot to hell and back again 
Then you'll ne\er see your caissons anymore 
When the shells that burst like thunder 
Shoot the old wheel team from under 
1 hen you'll nc\ cr sec the dri\er anymore. 



Chorus — 

(Base)— Cease firing; (Lead)— Break station; 
(Tenor) — March order; (Baritone) — Good-bye; 
When the guns are roaring yonder we'll be there. 



"When we'\-e drunk our last French booze 

And we're on our homeward cruise 

To our sweethearts waiting there upon the shore, 

When we each have our discharge 

And they turn us loose at large 

Then we'll ne\er join the army anymore. 



Chorus — 

(Lead)— Train for; ( Tenor)- -Cle\eland, .Akron; 
(Baritone)— Canton. Barberton; (Base)— .All aboard. 
While the guns were roaring yonder we were there. 



On the ship — 

\\ hen the ship begins to roll 

And you're lying in the hole 

And your bunk commences dancing o'er the (loor 

When the fish ha\e got your dinner 

.And your stomach's getting thinner 

Then you'll nc\er eat that mutton anvmore. 



Chorus- 



When the waves start rolling higher, — etc. 

(Lead)— All out life-boat drill; (Tenor)— Adjust belts- 

(Baritone)— Stand in line: (Base)— Details report. 



Page 216 The Red Guidon 

Madelon 

['our le repose, le plasir du militaire 

11 est la has, a deu.x pas de la foret, 
Line maison au\ miirs tout co\erts de lierre, 

Aux Tourlourous c'est le nom de cabaret. 
La ser\-ante est jeunc ct gentille, 

Legere comme u|t papillon, 
Comme son \ in son oeil petiUe, 

Nous I'appelons la Madelon: 
Nous en re\ons la nuit, nous y pcnsons le jour, 

Ce n'est que Madelon, mais pour nous c'est ramour. 

Chorus — (Juand Madelon \ lent nous ser\ ir a hoire. 

Sous la tonnclle on frole son jupon, 
Et chacun lui raconte unc histoire, 

Une histoire a sa facon. 
La Madelon pour nous c'est pas se\erc, 

Quand on lui prencl la taillc ou le menton — 
Elle rit, c'est tout I'mal qu ell' sait ia:rc, 

Madelon — Madelon — Madelon. 

Thus was the now famous French popular war song heard by the Batterymen when they 
first landed in that land of war and wine. It could be heard on all sides, sung by all classes of 
people, exidenth' for the benefit of the Americans who were known to be lo\ers of music. 
"Madelon " was practically the first attempt at anything singable in the ragtime tempo and the 
French who had so long listened to the creations of Ir\ing Berlin without knowing what the\' were 
about were more than proud of their countryman's accomplishment 

For a long time the words and meaning of the song were mysteries to the fellows and they were 
content to whistle the \ery catchy tune. The popularity' of the song with the .Americans grew to 
such an extent that there were English \ersions written by e\ery prestiming interpreter in the 
A. E. F. The publishers adopted one of these and had it printed to the same music, but it was a 
sad disappointment for the song did not sound half so catch\' with the P^nglish words. 

When the soldiers are to take some days of rest. 

And between friends enjoy a little Chopin. 
Where do they go^ To that place near a forest 
"Sammies' Resort ' is the name of the Inn. 
1 he servant is young and \ery nice. 

She's quick like a little demon. 
Her eyes are l^right and full of malice 

And we all call her Madelon; 
We dream of her at night, all day we think of her: 

For us it's Madelon, Madelon, forever. 

Chorus — When N ladelon comes out to serve us wine 

Soon all the Ixiys lo\e the sight of her skirt ; 
E\-eryone wants to tell her how she's fine; 

And at once begin to (lirt. 
Dear Madelon with us is not sc\'ere. 

She never tries to preach us a sermon ; 
No, she smiles, she's always full of cheer, 

Madelon — Madelon — K'ladelon. 



The lied Giiidon p^^^ 2/7 

'^o say that it was a liberal translation would be no more than fair to the French author 
tor accordma to B Battery linguists the American xersion loses the trend of the little story alto.'ether 
at times. I here are four % erses to the song and to hear a Frenchman sing them all is indeed a 
treat for they sing just as they would tell a story. 

When out on hikes through the little French towns it was always a pleasure to start whistling 
or singing Madelon and watch the smiling faces of the people who were delighted to think that 
their favorite song was liked by the Americans. 

The English xersion as printed by the publishers, aside from being a liberal and therefore 
very poor translation, even lost the meter and made it xery difficult for the singer to get all the 
\sords in xMthout changing the music: a liberty that uas taken b> all entertainers xv ho sang it. 

Another verse tells of the liberality of -Madelon- uith her kisses and of the innocence 
of them inasmuch as the boys shut their eyes and imagine that they are kissing the -girl back home. ' 
^tlll another stanza tell ol the fate of those xxho VMsh to become serious XMth the voun- lady of 
the song who cannot marry one soldier for she knes -tout le regiment.- the entire regiment. 

Had there been any possible uay for the Batter>men to learn the French words v^ithout 
missing any meals there is no doubt that -Madelon- would haxe been the most popular son" the 
Battery ever sang. As it was everybody knew the music and xvhistled it but the words in French 
included some very difficult ahbrexiations and the English version was considered unmusical so there 
was nothing left to do but whistle it and B Battery did that. 



Oh 



lO 



Ohio— Ohio— The hills send back the cry. 
-We're here to do or die," 
Ohio— Ohio— We'll win the war 
Or know the reason why. 



And when we w in the war 
We'll buy a keg of booze, 
And we'll drink to old Ohio 
I ill we wobble in our shoes. 
"Ohio — Ohio — we'll win the war 
Or knov\- the reason why." 



Third x-erse was added when the "sad news" arrived overseas in Nox-ember. All other claims to 
the authorship of this verse notwithstanding: the Red Guidon stands readv to prove that it was 
originated in B Battery. 

And since we'\-e won the war. 
We'll buy a case of pop. 
For the slackers \oted Ohio dry 
While we went o\er the top. 



Awake! before it yet is light — 

The bugle's blast has scattered into flight 

Our slumbers — and banished 

All hope of rest until another night. 

A book of regulations 'neath the bough 
A canteen full of water, hard-tack, chow — 
And thou, oh, my Commander, 
To tell me what to do — and how? 



Some for the training at the schools; and some 
Sigh for the all-absorbing task to come. 
Ah! take the training that they gave you — 
It will help to total up the sum. 

Ah, Love! If you were here — but to inspire, 
When nought in life ere seems complete entire — 
To talk to me — to let me press you close — 
There's nothing, nothing nearer heart's desire. 



A million men — A momentary taste 
Of Prussianism and Kultur gone to waste. 
And. lo! the crippled monarch has now reached 
Limitless atrocities. Enlist! make haste!' 



Titne Enough 



When the last "H.E." has exploded 
And the command "march order's ' gone down; 
When the last "seventy-five" has been limbered 
And we've passed through our last French town- 

When the last guard's been done and forgotten 
And the last scur\'y horse has been groomed. 
When the last "barrage C " has been sounded 
And the very last "heavy" has boomed — 



When we've had our last mess of hot bean soup 
And the very last mess kit is washed ; 
When we'\'e heard our last army rumor 
And France has been purged of the Boche — 

When the sea is all purple and copper, 
And the sun rides the waves in the west 
When the stern of the boat's in a shadow 
And the salt and the spray add a zest — 



Then it's time to start thinking of home folks 
And time to start thinking of her ; 
When you've laid down your O.D. for blue serge 
And time starts from "Apres la guerre." 











A drizzling rain is falling, little pools of water dance, 
It's such a rain as only falls upon the roads of France, 
With tall Lomhardy poplars looming black against the sk\- 
The cobblestones are rattling, for artillery's passing by. 
I'm sitting in the saddle, and I'm tired, and wet and cold; 
There's twehe more kilos still to go — the night is ages old. 
And as I sit aswaying, waiting the break of day, 
I'm onlv there in body, for my thoughts are far awav 

To— 
The library is cozy, the fire is gleaming red, 
I'm sitting on a pillow and there's one behind my head; 
And playing the piano, the while my fancies roam, 
The lamp-light gleaming in her hair — 

I he girl back home. 
A tallow candle flickers and the dim half-light re\eals 
A dug-out far below the ground where daylight ne\er steals. 
A German "H. E." bursts close by and somewhere o\erhead 
A huge rat scampers on a beam, there's another on m\ bed, 
A gas gong in the corner and a blanket on the door. 
With helmets hung along the walls, and hob-nails on the Hoor, 
I'm sitting in a corner with my feet propped on a chair, 
1 ^lon't hear my bunkie snoring lor m\ thoughts are o\er. 

Where — 
A yellow moon is hanging in a clouLlless summer sky, 
And tiny lights are bobbing as canoes go drifting by. 
And sitting by me on the pier where the water turns to foam. 
While the orchestra is throbbing — 
Is^ 

The girl back home. 



Page 220 



The Red Guidon 



Those Y. M. C. A. Song Books 



IN almost every camp that B Battery e\'er inhabited 
they put in their appearance, those "^"' song books. 
From the border camp at El Paso to France and hack 
again to the good old V. S. A., they were to be found 
wherever there was a "!'. M. C. A., within walking distance. 
Chaplain Atkinson tended to that. He always had a 
few in his pockets. 

They were most profuse on the transports and o\er- 
seas. Hardly had the boys stepped on the "Nestor" 
than the "^ " man on board, with the able assistance of 
the chaplain, was passing out the little pamphlets con- 
taining such thrillers as "Over There." "Liberty Bell," 
"Pack Up ^'our 'iroubles," and a few others. That 
first issue went for the purpose of mess-kit towels which 
were very scarce at the time. Subsequent issues served 
no better purpose for truly the song book failed to make 
the desired impression on B Battery. 

It must ha\c been rather discouraging to the Major to 
in\ariably hear the fellows singing such things as "Boom- 
boom, that's the Latrine R-a-a-g," and "When we get 
back from Germany," from between the covers of his 
cherished song book, v,hen he knew that "Keep the Home 
Fires Burning" and "Onward Christian Soldiers" were 
printed there instead. 

.Although \ery good for community gatherings, etc., 
the songs in the "^ " book were not expressix'e enough 
for the Batterymen Then those songs were common 
too, and if there was any one thing that B Battery insisted 
on more than another, it was individuality. 

When the "Y" men overseas would offer "Skeets" 
Werner, "Tub" Lamiell. "Mutt" Bausman and the rest 
of the Battery songsters a song book they would politely 
request their share of books in writing paper. 

It might be interesting to note that the last "Y" 
song book to appear in the Battery came on the last day 



at Camp Sherman, just before B Battery became "civil- 

ianized." 

MUSIC — Oh! How 1 hate to get up in the morning — 

What is the use of holding the Battery buglers for 
all the morning's sleep we didn't get in the army. There 
wasn't a soldier who e\er stood muster in B Battery who 
loved his morning's nap better than Glen "Rakestraw" 
Helsel of the bugle corps of B Battery. 

Helsel explains something we might ha\e suspected 
all along. "Thc\' made us blow first call in the morning, " 
said Helsel, one day. "We never would have blown a 
call before breakfast if the Old Man would have left us 
alone. If we'd had our way we'd ha\'e blown just three 
calls, mess call, recall and payday, " insisted "Rakestraw." 

George Stagg. Harry Fouts and Glenn Helsel probably 
blew the Battery out of bed more times than any other 
Batter\- buglers. Wendell Norris, Babe Hunsicker and 
Bill Sn\der the Battery's border buglers were next in 
rank in reference to long serxice. Stagg, according to the 
overseas Battery was the best musician of them all. 
Stagg, the boys used to say couldn't do anything right 
around the Battery until he closed his fist around his 
bugle and began blowing. There he was in his element, 
and while some of the boys could always tell at night 
who was blowing "taps." e\'erybod>- knew when Stagg 
blew it. 

B Battery ne\er had a poor bugler. All the boys 
could play when their turn came. For little fellows, 
Harry Fouts and Glenn Helsel got away nicely with their 
work. So did Babe Hunsicker on the border. 

The buglers always had to get up first in B Battery, 
but they were always first in the mess-line as well as in 
other lines. 

B Battery couldn't ha\e won the war without her 
buglers. 



Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning. 

Gee! How I hate to get out of bed; 

But the saddest blow of all is to hear the bugle call, 

^'ou got to get up, you got to get up ; 

"^'ou got to get up this morning. 

Some day we're going to murder the bugler. 

Some day they're going to find him dead. 

We will steal into his tent some night. 

And blow him up with dynamite 

And spend the rest of our lives in bed. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 221 



Quartettes 



THERE was always a good supply of singers in B 
Battery, but not all of them could sing together. In 
most of the song-fests somebody was sure to be "sour" 
and spoil the song. 

For real harmony on the border the prize-winners 
were the quartette, at that time composed of Sergeant 
Kavenagh, Homer Da\is, Russ Baer and Tommy Thomp- 
son. There were plenty of other singers at Camp Pershing 
and in almost e\ery section one could hear some of the 
boys harmonizing on the old favorite, "When we get back 
from Me.xico," in the evenings. 

Of course. Fort Sheridan was the scene of many song- 
fests, for a little while. Until the sorrowful news that B 
Battery was not going to be mustered out e\eryone 
awoke with a song and everyone seemed to be in harmony. 
After the announcement of this bit of news the songsters 
seemed to forget their songs and no one felt in harmony 
with anybody or anything. It's funny how a song 
expresses the mood or temperament. 

Who ever heard any of the Battery quartettes sing 
any better than on, or just before, pay-day? And surely 
nobody ever heard any of the boys burst into song on 
such occasions as. going out on a "pick and sho\el ' 
detail or the first few days on the ship bound for France. 

The affair put such a damper on the musical efforts of 
the boys from Texas that there was little or no singing 
until the Battery arrived at Fort Benjamin Harrison 
where some new blood was instilled. 

With the arri\al of the launch of recruits from SiKer 
Lake came Tub Lamiell, Skeets Werner and "Mutt" 
Bailsman, who, with Larry Fetch were destined to compose 
the old favorite o\erseas quartette. Tommy Thompson 
would, at times when he was not too busy trying to 
"parley" with some "madamoiselle," assist in the singing 
either replacing Skeets or making one of a quintette. 

From Camp Sheridan to France and hack these 
fellows sang on the least provocation. All the old 
favorites were dug up by Thompson and Fetch and as 



many as possible oi the new songs were learned from time 
to time. On the ship, bound for France there was always 
plenty of singing, after all the boys had gained their sea- 
legs and from that time on there were few occasions when 
these fellows got together that there wasn t some singing. 

At Camp de Souge, as part of a regimental show they 
sang at all the hospitals and ^'. M. C, A. huts nearby, 
doing their practicing in the billets where there was 
always an enthusiastic audience. 

At the first front there used to be little song-fests 
down in the first section dug-out. to the accompaniment 
of Heinle's "tching-bumms." At the second front, when 
there was the least bit of time the boys used to congregate 
in the shanty occupied by some of the fellows — during the 
day. On one occasion when the second section was 
firing a problem by themsehes, the quartette gathered 
around the gun and to the music of the 75's explosion they 
sang the Artillery song. 

After the armistice was signed and the Battery mo\'ed 
back to await sailing orders, there was plenty of harmony. 
The Christmas show was the start of a regular season for 
the song birds. 1 he regiment organized a minstrel show 
and B Battery s quartette was asked to join. They did. 

Aside from escaping a lot of details and the monotony 
of waiting, the boys had a wonderful opportunity to see 
some of f^rance. They were gone until the mo\ ing orders 
came. 

Singing in the wine-rooms of Le Lion de Angers and 
on the boat coming home the quartette made a host of 
friends. 

The last time the bo\s were together, in the sersice 
was at Camp Sherman where they sang at the hospital. 

Some day it is hoped that this overseas quartette and 
all the others who ever entertained B Battery with their 
singing will get together and, as an octette or even a 
double octette, sing the old favorites — ^just for old times 
sake. 




^1 



) KcJr 





Page 'JTJ 



The Red Guidon 



B Battery's Own Show 



TV^lTH all the opportunities for amateur theatricals 
VV that were afforded the Batterymen in the camps in 
the U. S. A., it w as not until they w ere a\\a\- ox er in h'rance 
where there seemed to be no opportunit\- \\hate\er lor 
such a thinj:; that the B flattery talent came to lipht. 

just to pro\e that Stewart W'alkei' wasn t the onK 
one who could make a theatre out o( nothmt^ an^l that 
f-'rank Finney wasn't the only one who could make 
actors out of soldiers; the committee produced elexen 
acts of \'aude\ille that Marcus Loew would ha\e paid 
thousancis of dollars for — on a stage that woLild ha\e 
made any Bakst creation look like a Ben C^reet Shake- 
sperian setting. 

The audience too. was one that the management ol 
the Palace 1 heatre would enjoy ha\ ing in their house 
e\ery night, lor they certainly were appreciati\e. From 
the time "Pig" Owens stepped before the footlights 
until the curtain went elown on the "BLicke>'e I-"our," the 
old billet was in an uproar of applause. 

The show opened with a bang at si.\ o'clock sharp. 
Art b^aulkner acting as announcer in place of programs. 

The first number, Wm. Owens, billed as "La Piguc 
Owens" Juggler Supreme, so simple yet so perlect. 
La Pigue's act consisted of juggling eight grains nl nee. 
As a juggler William is "Nux Vomica." He wound up 
his act with an exhibition of his four trainei.1 cooties, 
Jim, Elizabeth, Ann and Bill, 

Holton Lord and L'red Exncr as the "Melody Murder- 
ers " were next on the bill. ThcN' played ukelele an^l 
mandolins matlc from cigai boxes with toothbitish 
handles as keys. Despite this the\- pla\ed several airs 
and furnished good music. 

Morgan Bright "Senorita Morganita Bright" as a 
Spanish dancer put o\er the third number. "Senorita" 
looked and acted like a regular Spanish dancer and danced 
like one. The music lor the dance was by Loixl an^l 
Exner. 

The fourth number was Norman Luchs m a series ot 
cartoons or chalk talks depiciting incidents and characters 
in the Battery. One cartoon ot a can ol jam recened 
especial applause from the boys. 

L\:illowing the "C~.halk Talks' came Corporal J. P>. 
Michaels and Harry Harris as "Dixie DanLlies" a black 
face act that would ha\e made good in big time. 

"Back in Berlin Center" featuring George Couchy, 
Howard Miller nnd Carl Moledor was the next ollering. 
The above trio as rubes in Berlin Center (U. S. A.) receiv- 
ing letters from soldiers' sons in France, was good and 
gave them the opportunity lor much "hick " comedy. 

The seventh number was the mystery act of the 
evening. "The Greek Players " with Corporal C. W. 
Schnake, C. E. Lamiell and "Shorty" Rogers as the 
exponents of the famous Greek arts. Ncjne ol the above 



would do as models for union suits neither would they 
take any prizes for physical pulchritude, but by the 
liberal padding of the muscles, chest and stomachs they 
made ideal subjects for their parts. Army underwear 
and socks, flour for their faces and bandages for their 
heads, completed the costumes. The poses shown were: 
"The Dying Gladiator," "The Storm," "The Wrestlers," 
"The Hunt," "Aphrodite at the Bath," "The Ruins of 
Verdun, " and '"Ihc Spirit cjf F")F' or Homeward Bound." 
Schnake posed as the "Goddess of Liberty, " holding a 
candle in a beer bottle. Shorty Rogers posed rowing a 
boat with "Tub" lamiell looking through a champagne 
bottle lor shore. 

Edward Jacobs as the "Whistling Nightingale" came 
next. His act consisted of whistling a programme of 
classics and imitations. Lhe three encores that Jake 
received showed his talent was appreciated. 

Verne Ritter, William Summers and John L'unk in 
the playet, "Come Wis Me" was next, Ritter had 
evidently been a waiter in Atlantic City or l^aris, other- 
wise he would not have been able to handle his part the 
way he did. His technicitie was perfect. Summers as 
an American soldier was typical of the American soldiers 
in France, both in speech and action. John Lunk as 
a French Maelamoiselle was "Tres bonne" — Ooh-la-la' 
She was "beaucoLip tres bonne " a regular knockout and 
she held the audience spellbouni.1. When it comes to 
makeup as a .Madamoisellc, lohnny had Julian Eltinge 
cheated a thousand ways. 

In act number ten-Sergeant "Pat " L\nch. Art 
Laulkner and Roland Tomm\- Thompson, put on the 
sketch, "The General's Orderly." "Pat" Lynch should 
have been a general in the army instead of a sergeant for 
he played his part to perfection, the part of a grouchy 
General suffering from dyspepsia and unable to appreciate 
jokes. Art L'aulkner as Divisional Sergeant Major also 
approached perfection and his disposition was a counter- 
part of the Generals Tommy Thompson as a Buck 
Private, engaged in the difficult task of trying to make 
the General laugh within ten minutes or being shot, 
played his part in a manner that would have done justice 
to Ed, Wvnne. In the last thirtv seconds. Tommy by 
earnest whispering in the Cjcneral's ears brought the 
long-sought smile. 

The final number was a programme by the famous 
Batterv' C|uartette, Lamiell, Bausman, Fetch and Werner, 
billed as the "Buckeye 4" A few lines of comcLJy helped 
to complete their act, Lamiell was a fat grumpy cook, 
Bausman a harel-boiled .Xmeiican colored soldier. Letch 
an "Anti Swearing League" representative and Werner 
a French soldier. They were one of the big hits of the 
evening and w ere forced to ansvver to many encores. 




A symphony of a million guns 

Blats out a challenge to an outraged civilization 

And a million men 

Fall forward upon their faces. 

Dead eyes hang in rows, 

Upon Nieteche's breast 

And Nero, swathed in blood-red vapors. 

Moves a step toward sanctity. 

Rivers of the red blood of gallant men 

Flow sluggishly on 

Past the peaceful meadows 

Of northern France. 

Piles of dead men 

Lie on the battlefield of Verdun. 

Is this the price of civilization? 

War piles the piles higher. 



I Dont Want Anymore Army 

One of the sweet old lullabies the boys were wont to hum during the lean days in France, was "I 
Don't Want Anymore Army." Everybody below the rank of colonel in the 134th regiment liked 
that song. The boys liked to sing it and the officers who didnt dare sing it enjoyed listening to it. 
The overseas quartette in the Battery introduced "I Don't Want Anymore Army " on the boat 
on the way to F'rance. They knew only one \erse and the two line chorus. Words for a dozen or 
more were written by Farry Fetch, "Skeets " Werner, Tommy 1 hompson, "Mutt " Bausman, "Tub" 
Lamiell, and the rest of the warblers. Here's the way the piece ran: 

1. Details here and details there 

Nothing to eat and nothing to wear. 



Chor 



I don't want anymore army 
Lorcly how I want to go home. 

2. On Saturday morning when inspection is through, 
The top sergeant says e.xtra duty for you — Chorus. 

3. I had lots of ckithes when I started for f^rance 
-Now' I ha\e only one pair of pants — Chorus. 

4. I joined the artillery so 1 could ride 

But r\e walked 'round the world with a thiity inch stride — Chorus. 

5. They ga\e me a horse and told me to ride 

I didn't see the shovel on the other side — Chorus. 



Page 224 



The Red Guidon 



B Battery Youngsters 



WITH the airi\al of the recruits at Camp Perry 
came the \oungest artiller\man who e\er soldiered 
with B Battery — Robert Wiener. By special permission 
of Captain Albrecht and with the consent of his par- 
ents. Bob joined the battery with a bunch of fellows 
almost ten years older than himself. He celebrated his 
seventeenth birthday in the arm\' after reaching Ft. Ben- 
jamin Harrison. 

Although young in years, Bob soon acquired a bearing 
that would cause the casual observer to take him for 
twenty-two at least. Especially in the ring with a pair 
of boxing gloves did Bob prove that he was no baby. 

Another youngster who joined the battery at Camp 
Sheridan was Winfield McCracken. Red was trans- 
ferred from Company B, 14bth Infantry, so he could be 
"around the horses" as he worded it. He was senior to 



Wiener by about a month and a half, hut like Bob soon 
proved himself a man in action, if not in years. Given a 
pair of horses to drive and care for. Red was right in his 
element and there were few horses looked any better 
than McCrackens. 

Just before the battery left for France, both of these 
boys were gi\'en the opportunity to get an honorable 
discharge because of their age and both refused, although 
encouraged to accept, from home. 

There were several other B Batterymen who were 
still m their teens, among whom were "Pete" Hirleman, 
who joined at Sheridan, and Roy Shreve who joined at 
Perry and was discharged at Sheridan. Although there 
were several who joined the battery while under twenty 
years of age, Wiener and .McCracken were the only ones 
to be discharged that young. 



Fish 



^ 



■y 











Fish Bill boltz when he bought his own shoes for $4 in 

Texas, 

* + * * 

Fish Archie Murph\- when he went after the skirmish 
line. 

Fish Carl Schrank when he went after a jar stretcher. 

* * * * 

Fish Thurman Staudt trying to light a candle from a 

cigarette. 

* * * * 

Fish Norman buchs when he tried to get a size 4 Pistol 
Holster at Camp de Souge. 

Fish "Fish" Moore when he gave Bob Wiener forty-five 
francs for a decorated shell. 

Fish Tub Lamiell when he bought a no-good French 
cigarette lighter from F-'etch. 

* * + * 

Fish Abe b'reelancler w hen he went around the corner in 
El Paso and lost $8.00. 

+ * * * 

Fish Bill Summers when a girl took his watch-chain at 

Bar le Due, f-rance. 

* * * * 

Fish George Cunningham when he went A,W,0,L. the 
day before he got his furlough, 

* * * + 

Fish F)on Scott when he came from Omaha to join the 
battery. 



The Red Guidon 



Page 22.1 



Medics 



AFTER Bevington left the detachment at Camp Perry 
in his search for a higher standing in Uncle Sam's or- 
ganization, the two border \eterans, Briggs and Weiss, 
remained alone. Captain Barton thought it was alto- 
gether too lonely for these two men, so he sent out a call 
for volunteers. The first to respond was Ed Stuart who 
was followed in few days by Dutch Cramer, then came 
along Delos Martin. The organization of fne men 
battled along through the mud and rain for about two 
weeks when a very heavy shower on the 1st of June 
washed "Sophie" Ltitz, "Susie" Steffensen and Ernest 
Drake into the organization. Drake did not seem very 
well pleased with his reception, so decided that he had 
better try a difterent branch of the serxice. so returned to 
Akron with the expectation of getting into ^'. i\I. C. A. 
service. 

This left the detachment with se\ en men to carry out 
the Pill-Roller work through the remaining days at Camp 
Perry. How did the raw/ recruits enjoy their entrance 
into the service, did 1 hear somebody ask^ 1 he\ did not 
do very much real kicking, although they all had sweet 
dreams of their little white beds at home, as they lay 
shivering in their cokl and partially wet army blankets, 
after a day's work of mud-skidding was o\er. It was 
not uncommon to hear the happy expression utterei.1 by 
one of the recruits. "Home was nc\er like this,' alter 
he had eaten his mess of slum, dry bread and black 
coffee in mud almost knee deep. 

Regardless of the dislike of the first taste of army lile. 
they were all eager to take their first trip at the army's 
expense to Fort Benjamin Harrison lort Benjamin 
Harrison met with approval of all men. lor any spot on 
earth looked good for them after their experiences in 
Camp Perry's sea of mud 

Shortly after the arrival at bort Benjamin Harrison 
new men started to come forth to add to the list ol 
"iodine swabbers;" first came Drake who decided that 
he might as well be a wearer of the "khaki" as a seller of 
stamps in a ^'. M. C, .'\, hut, then the rest drifted in. in 
groups of two and three at a time. "Duke " Evans and 
Howard Miller came sneaking in one hot day and de- 
manded entrance The "Duke " was admittCLJ withotit 
any argument for he looked like a very promising orderlv' 
for Captain Barton, but Miller was only forttinate enough 
to have nine fingers, having left the tenth one back in 
Cambridge, Ohio, so a waiver had to be passei.1 on hnn 
by the surgeon general at Washington before he was 
admitted. "Buzzy" Havre and jack Rose were next and 
were left in on their merits; "Buzzy " was Canton's 
leading cigar salesman and Jack was Kenmore's best 
soda dispenser and was acquaintetl with Lieutenant 
Alspach who was to join us later. 



Captain Snow was doing some recruiting at Silver 
Lake at this time and evidentlv' hael the Mealies in mind 
when he was trying to swell the numbers of the Head- 
quarter Company for he sent "Bob" Bond, George 
Ischumi and Leonard Hanson to the organization. Now 
Bond had been a steam fitter in civ ilian life and gtiaranteed 
his abilitv- at painting and wrapping joints, so he qualified 
Isehumi saiLl he had been a boy scout in civilian lite and 
was young and eager to learn the art of administering 
first aid, so he passed all the entrance barriers but Hanson 
was more or less undecided at the last moment, lor he 
did not know whether he wanted to become a brother 
"pill pusher" or try out for the position of "crap-shooter 
sergeant " in one of the other organizations. 

Time at b^ort Ben passed rather quickly, the daily 
routine of litter drill, exercising horses and search lor a 
good time at Indianapolis, made up the daily work. 
There was only one little diversion from the daily menu ol 
work and that was the time when the fellows assembled 
and came to the conckision that Ed Sttiart needed a bath 
and needed it badly. So the aforesaid Stuart was rounded 
up and made to disrobe. He was then carried on a litter 
to the showers He took the ordeal in fine shape tor it 
was surmised that he recognized the fact that he needei.1 
a bath himself. 

After this operation was complete^l. Weiss was con- 
sidered for a similar dose. It cannot be said that Weiss 
really needed a bath but his domineering actions did not 
meet with the approval of the men When Weiss was 
accosted, he proceeded to give an argtiment which was 
of no avail for he was otitntimberecl by abotit ten to one. 
W hen rec|uesteLl to disrobe he cIkI not ^leem it adv isable 
so he was bound, clothes and all, to a litter and placed 
tinkler three cold showers and allowed to lav there tintil 
It was thought he hai-l enough water to soak his olive 
colored skin. 

Rumors became very prevalent regari.ling the move to 
Camp Sheridan. AlaL^ama Rumors these davs were 
taken verv' seriously, so seriouslv in fact, that Medics 
packed up three different times before the trip was 
finally started. 

Sergeant Briggs had been working verv' hard to get 
a discharge so that he might return to O. S, L'. an^.1 com- 
plete his cotirse in mcLlicine Briggs did not work alone 
m his attempt lie had the hearty co-operation ol all 
the Briggs family, who pulled every political string 
m Columbus before he finally succeeded. 

The official order came that a trip to the Southland 
was to take place 1 he detachment was then split for 
the first time, for the battalion was t^) move in two 
sections Sergeant Briggs was to take seven men and 
go with the first section, Weiss was to bring the remain- 
ing eight men w ith the seconci section, but alas! Sergeant 



Page 226 



The Red Guidon 



Briggs who was so desirous to see Alabama at the go\ern- 
ment's expense, received his discharge on the day we 
were to leave. Hard luck for Briggs' Stuart was then 
given charge of the first group of men. The trip was an 
enjoyable one tor all the men. for it was the longest and 
most scenic trip they had ever made in their youthful lives. 
A big surprise awaited them when the\' lancied at 
Camp Sheridan. Instead of ha\ ing to pitch a hospital 
tent as they had formerK' done, a big fourteen room 
infirmary awaited them. Instead of having to clear 
brush and trample down weeds in order to make a space 
for their li\ing tents, they found well laid-out company 
streets, also mess halls, bath houses and latiines. 

Major Gordon, the new commanding officer, and 
Lieutenant Alspach. the former private Alspach who was 
with the tletachment on the border, awaited the detach- 
ment's arrival. Wade Koplin made the trip to Camp 
Sheridan with Head- 
quarter Company and 
was Camp Sheridan s 
first offering to our de- 
tachment. 

During the time spent 
at Fort Ben Harrison 
the 1st Battalion Ohio 
Field Artillery became 
the First Battalion of 
the 134th bield Artil- 
lery. 1 his necessitated 
further enlargements ot 
the Medical Corps to 
twenty-three men. No 
time was lost along this 
line tor Sergeant Bran- 
field. "Bull" Durham and "Herb" Woodling were the 
first to attempt a transfer from the 145th Ambulance 
Company to Major Gordon's detachment. In the course 
of a week all three of the men became part of the detach- 
ment. 

The old 2nd Ohio Infantry was split up and Dewey 
Gast and Edgar Eisley were added to the swelling ntimbers. 
The Y. M. C. A. could not use men of the draft age in 
their overseas work so Hubert Kimmel, Luther Evans 
and Ed Ruehrwein who were desirous of seeing ['ranee 
and parts unknown, were admitted to the organization 

The Medics have always been more or less the subject 
of humor and tun for the Batterymen, because they were 
in an entirely different class of work than that of the 
combatant soldiers, but nevertheless, they were kept 
busy all the time, taking instructions trom medical officers, 
in the form of lectures in Materia Medica. Camp Sanita- 
tion and First Aid ; a c4rill schedule was also closely follow-ed 
in litter and ambulance drills. The men of the organiza- 
tion were kept busy almost day and night at the time the 
la grippe epidemic spread throughout the regiment. 1 he 
batteries never went to the range for firing practice with- 




out men from the detachment in attendance. Perhaps 
the hardest work ever encountered in this connection 
was at the time of the lightning disaster, when the men 
were on the job and administered F'irst Aid to the stricken 
ones Inoculation and vaccination periods always meant 
hard and tedious work until late hours at night for the 
medical man. These duties perhaps seem very slight in 
comparison w ith the hard manual work of the Batterymen 
but it all meant work that was absolutely necessary, 
nevertheless. 

The Medical Corps decreased in number almost as 
fast us it increased when Herb Woodling received an 
S. C. D,. Drake left for Division Headquarters, Branfield 
received a discharge so that he might resume his course 
in dentistry. This decrease took place in less than two 
months' time 

About this same time Martin was getting more or 
less tired of army life and being spurred on by the changes 
which were taking place abotit him, found that he had a 
knee joint that was in very bad condition, which was the 
result of a horse kick some three months before. Now 
Martin limped around with a cane for some five or six 
weeks and finally was sent to the Base Hospital for 
examination. Nobody will ever know but Martin just 
what the ckjctors at the hospital tt)ld him about his leg. 
but on his return, he had the aforesaid leg in working 
condition within two weeks time. 

After the sudden decrease in the numbers of the 
organization, work was started to bring the c|UOta back 
to Its former strength, Happv' Cjillen got wind of the 
nee^l of men and kept the telegraph wires hot between 
Akron and Camp Sheridan, with messages to Captain 
Barton. One day Gillen reported at Camp Sheridan and 
joined the organization on the strength of his happy dis- 
positicjn and broad smile. 

Karl Grismer was inducted into service about one 
week later, but was not accepted 1-iy the examining board 
at the base hospital, 1 his was a great blow to ivarl for 
he was very desirous to get into the service by other means 
than that of the draft. 

During the month of April the Medics were kept 
busy day and night trying to check the la grippe epidemic 
which swept down through the batteries. Doc E. Z. had 
charge of the thermometer and the pill detail and after a 
few doses of his favorite prescription of sodii sal. iodine 
and castor oil. everyboLlv' pulled through the ordeal O. K, 

With the arrival of fivc-htindred replacements from 
Camp 1 aylor. the major was able to bring his corps up 
to war strength. The four new men chosen were Ralph 
A. Donham. Harry G Walden, little Zeke Leippert. 
Orla Price and last but not least. Clarence j. Becker, 
better known as "Beck " Zeke and Beck were turned 
over to Doctors Aufderheide and Kishler to be used as 
dental assistants, but Zeke's hands were too big and Beck 
having the best line of S, B for pulling teeth and also a 
natural "yes. sir! all right, sir' " disposition around the 



The lied (iiiidon 



Page 227 



office, poor little Zeke had to fall hack to the humble 
ranks of pill roller, first class. 

The happiest Ja\" arri\ed when it was learned that 
the regiment would be read\' to mo\e in three days, for 
our fast brush wielders, Sophie Lut: and Wade 1, Koplin 
had finally finisheel their apparentK' hie lob of painting 
overseas boxes anel beeleiing rolls 1 hus eneleel our days 
at old Sheridan 

Our ne.xt jump took us toCampLlpton where man\- of 
us suddenly lounel out we had \ er\ near relati\es in "lil 
ole New ^'ork" that we reall\- ought to see before sailing. 
Of course, man>^ were called but few were chosen' 

On the trip o\er the Medics were gi\en one more 
chance to make good in the eyes of the Batterymen, 
They were detailed around to the da\ its, so in case of 
emergency such as "abondon ship call," or "all off here 
comes a stib," they could play the hero part by calmly 
assisting the crew in lowering the life boats until all on 
board cleared the ship. Then anel not before the said 
Medics were supposed to take a gambler's plunge for 
their own miserable li\es, Althotigh we did ha\'e a 
battle in the Irish sea, no "abondon ship" call was sounded 
and the good old tripe scow "Nestor" (.locked safely at 
Liverpool on the 10th day of July. 

When Camp cle Souge below Bordeau.x was reached, 
the Medics were really put to work, C^.amp sanitation 
kept nine of them busy hustling prisoners around with 
the aid ot hip artillery anel the other si.xteen were detailed 
to the camp hospital to help take care of the fi\e hundred 
badly wounded Irom Chateau Thierry, It was here that 
the pill rollers got their first real work, from si.x to six, 
handling the worst cases of mustard gas, 11 [i shrapnel 
and machine-gun wounds. 

Owing to the s\stem in whieh the artiller\ went into 
position by Batteries and often only sections at a time, 
the Medical Corps was necessarily di\idee1 when in the 
ad\ance area. On the trip trom Camp ele Souge to the 
lines, Sergeant Ed Stuart, Buzzy Ha\'re and Hap Gillen 
tra\eled w ith B Batter\', but after the battle of Pneumonia 
Hollow , this combination was broken up and the whole 
detachment hit the long trail together, pulling into the 
dirge stronghold of St. Gene\ie\e (eighty-se\en thousand 
feet abo\e sea le\el accorcHing to e\ery one who has climbed 
it full-pack) about midnight October lOth In passing 
might state as a fond recollection that in this bombarded 
town most every one got cootieized for the first time 

As the Batteries went out from St, Gene\ ie\e for the 
first trial on the front, the Medics were again divided, 
Herbert Kimmel and Luther Evans accompanied B Bat- 
tery, Dutch Cramer and Hap Gillen left with A Battery, 
Bob Bond and Orla Price went forth to experience then- 
first try-out as I^^irst Aid men with C Battery. According 
to all accounts. Hap Gillen was the only man that had any 
real taste of bombardment by the Germans, The Akron 
newspapers were busy relating his flirtations with death. 



It was at Camp Ouest where the regiment was sent 
to rest up after its first experience on the front that crap- 
shooter first class Hanson got the scare of his young life 
The Spick thought he could shoot American 30-30s in a 
German small bore' Ask him the rest of the story' Need- 
less to say. when the oLI Bochc piece blew out, Hans got 
an eye full of powder and a belly full of experimenting. 

During the few days stop over at Apremont, Doc Bond 
was able to make quite an elaborate collection of F-rench 
and German skulls. He claimed that the German was 
a real flat head with a frontal plate fully an inch thick 

I he dav' the armistice was signed, Kop and Donham 
were guests of the Boche, A trip across Lake La Chaussee 
to an old German town where many Rhinish wines and 
brews were quafed in real fashion was the main feature 
ot the day. It might also be stated that on this particular 
occasion, Ralph lost his army raincoat and suspiciously 
enough came back with manv' fine souvenirs which he 
claimed were given to him. 

During the winter's sojourn around Recourt anel 
Rambluzin, a few important changes took place in the 
Medical Corps, Major Gordon. Captain ivishler and 
Lieutenant Wright of the Vets went into the army of 
Occupation by request In return we were assigned 
Major Collins of the ^''th Army Corps whom the older 
men gladly remembered from Eort Ben days. The dental 
surgeon was replaced by Captain f^ristow of the '-XJth 
[division ol the Army of (.)ccupation and Lieutenant 
\\ right s successor was Lieutenant Bowman, also from 
the %th But when the regiment reached Le Lion the 
Vets suffering the fate of all Vet and dental units of the 
A- E, b, were jerked out as were also Captain Bristow 
and poor Beck, thus ending their fonel and lingering hopes 
of going home w ith the brigade 

At Brest, L3onham, Walden, Leippert and Price were 
also left behind only to follow a week later w ith a special 
Camp Taylor detachment 

A big disappointment came when it was learned that 
Captain Barton would not sail with his boys, but woukl 
remain indefinitely at the Brest hospital for eye treatment 
1 his w as particularly hard to take for the regiment 
realizcel that its home-coming could not be complete 
without Its lavorite "family Doc, 

On the ship back the saddest sight of all the sick ones 
was poor Sophie Lutz, as on the trip to Li\ erpool Raymonel 
would have six meals a dav', three elown and three up 
He woulel elrag himself into a corner earlv in the morning 
and stay hidden all dav' until time for hammocks. Rose 
and .^kscl were also enjoving the trip with Lutz in the 
same fashion Herbert Kimmel ha^l the hardest luck 
taking sick at Brest anel being lorccel to spend the whole 
trip in the sick-bay, 

I he twelv e da\' voyage on the Lf S, S, New Hampshire 
was a pleasant and interesting one, but a happier bunch 
never set foot on good L', S. soil, than the Medics on the 
24th of March, a dav- never to be forgotten 



Page TJ8 



The Red Guidon 



llie hike from the docks to Camp Stuart, Va., al- 
though four miles in length was made with a quick step 
and a hroaci smile for the morale of the men was at its 
highest notch, Fhe stay of eight days at Camp Stuart 
was comparatively short, for each Pill Roller knew that 
time was near at hand when each and e\er>- man would 
get three sc^uare meals a day, prepared by mother, and a 
fond embrace by some other loved one 

On the first day of April the regiment entrameel lor 
its trip to dear old Ohio, The first jump from Camp 
Stuart to Cleveland was exceedingly short, for the number 
of miles covered. The reason for this can he gi\'en \'ery 
easily. On this trip each man coukl comlortabK' sit 
down and enjoy himself during the day and comfortably 
lay down and sleep during the night. Such luxuries 
could not be enjoyed when tra\eling o\erland in brance, 
in the "40 homines. 8 che\au\" st\le ol transporta- 
tion, which necessitated taking \our turn in sitting down 
during the day and laying down during the night 

The parade schedule for the 134th Field Artillery 
called for a parade at Cle\eland on April 3rd. but the 
outfit arrived a day ahead of schedule freedom was 
granted all men until midnight It was surprising to see 
how well acquainted the Medics were in the city. Those 
that were not acquainted lost no time in making new 
acquaintances. Even Eddie Ruehrwein. that piotis 
^', M, C, A, worker, was seen walking through the Public 
Sqtiarc w ith a lady friend on each arm and nobody knows 
exactly how many were following, waiting for an opening 
to grab one of the long, lean wings of the Cincinnati hero 
The parade in Cle\elani.l was a big success. Each 
Medic was on the job. regardless of the fact that Akron 
was only 37 miles away and street cars run to the rubber 
city e\ery hour After the parade it was made know n that 
all men living in Akron might go home and join the organ- 
ization the following day in Akron, It was not neeessar\ 
for a second oreler on this question, E\ery X ledic but four 
whose homes were in southern Ohio, got lost from Cleveland 
in twenty minutes' time — they were homewardbound. 

Another big surprise occurreel when the roll was called 
on the following morning. Each man answered "pre- 
sent." although some of the answers were \ery feeble, 
lor all night engagements had been \ery prevalent the 
night before. It ne\er was satisfactorily explained how it 
happened, but not a single Pill Roller fell out of line, from 
exhaustion or other reasons, but it must be admitted after 
all the handshaking at the Armory was o\er. many felt 
a great deal weaker than they had e\-er experienced before 
in army lile. 

De Martin was heard to say. after his arm had been 
almost shaken off and perspiration trickled down his face 
from exhaustion. "Say, Bob. I ne\er knew 1 had so many 
friends in Akron, but they all seem to know me," 

There was some excitement that night, aftei- the troop 
train started for Columbus, the place of the last parading 
event, A rumor was started among the Medics that Bob 



Bond was not on the train, A search through the car 
was made but Bond could not be found. After fifteen or 
twenty miles of the trip had been passed, smiling Bob 
broke in on the scene and related how he managed to 
catch the last ear on the train after a sprint of se\eral 
hundred yards, "Why so late. Bob''" somebody asked. 
Grinning from ear to ear. he answered, "1 had a few friends 
that I had to bid good-bye. train or no train " This 
caused some suspicion, but no one said a word, 

Columbus ga\e the men of the "Buckeye Division" 
a \ery hearty welcome, T he streets were thronged with 
enthusiastic crowds, as the wearers of the "khaki" paraded 
by, all of them much fatigueel and weary from travel and 
late nights which were not marked by the sounding ol 
taps at ten P .\ I When the train pulled into Camp 
Sherman on the following morning, e\er\'one was glad 
the "big show" was o\er and parading a thing of the 
past. 

The fi\ e days spent at Camp Sherman passed quickly, 
f-inal inspections were taken with delight, for every man 
knew that they were the last. Regardless of the time 
that was spent along this line, pills and iodine were dis- 
pensed with tmtil the last moment. They were gi\en out 
in the same spirit that the inspections were taken. With 
every dose, the hospital man smiled and said to himself, 
"that is the last dose that fellow will get for nothing." 

The final day of reckoning came at last, the 10th of 
April, 

Regardless of w hether or not the men of the regiment 
recognized the \alue of the Medics to Uncle Sam's service, 
there was one organization at Camp Sherman that did, 
and hated to see them leave. It was none other than the 
Camp Quartermaster Corps, The Pill Pushers were, 
according to schedule, to be discharged second in line, 
following Headquarters Company which was first. The 
line moved along quite rapidly until the Medics were 
reached, then the word was sent out that their payroll 
and discharge papers were lost 1 hese glad tidings landed 
upon the once happy Medics like a ton of hard tack. 
After a two and a half-hour search the papers were found 
at the Camp Quartermaster's office. The excuse was 
given that there was a mistake, but this caused some 
doubt in the mmels of all concerned. After the rest of 
the regiment had gone bearing much cherished papers 
and a broael smile, the Medics were given their final 
statements and they also hastened awav into civ ilian lile 
for better or for worse. 

Good Soldiers 

The Battery was lined up lor an inspection one day 
and Colonel Bush was about to look over the Iront rank. 

"Has the rear rank been ptit at ease, Sir." asked one 
of the officers present, 

"Ease nothing, let em stand at attention." roared 
the C, O, "Give them at ease and they take rest, give 
them rest and you can't find 'em. " he added. 



The Red (hiidon 



Page 229 



The Medical Men 



Major Gordon 

Captain Barton Akron, Ohio 

Lieutenant E, J. Alspaugh Kenmorc, Ohio 

Sergeant E. G. Stuart 57 Adolph A\enue Akron, Ohio 

Sergeant F-". [-*. Rose .-. . Kenmore, Ohio 

Sergeant H. B. [Durham 2^"i5 Buchtel A\enue Akron, Ohio 

Privates — 

R. G. Lutz 1278 Collinwood A\enue Akron, Ohio 

D. H Miller 37 Belvidere Way Akron. Ohio 

A. Steftansen Kling Street Akron, Ohio 

P. M. Cramer 441 Buchtel A\enue Akron. Ohio 

I lancis Gillen 31 Fay Street Akron, Ohio 

\1 1 Ha\re 82 Conger Ax'enue Akron, Ohio 

L, ,\. Hanson II E. North Street Akron, Ohio 

R. K. Bond 575 E. Exchange Street Akron, Ohio 

D. G. Gast 1425 North Street Lima, Ohio 

L J. E\ans Cambridge, Ohio 

D. L. E\ ans 17th Street Columbus, Ohio 

\-\ C, Kimmel 431 Forest A\ enue Dayton, Ohio 

W 1, Koplin R, F. D. II Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 

Cj, I-*. I schumi 2nd Street Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 

H, E. Miller Cambridge, Ohio 

E, W. Ruehrwein 2000 Western Cincinnati. Ohio 

("irla Price Greenup. Illinois 

R. A. Donham _.. .. Terre Haute, Indiana 

Elmer Lippert bl 5 Washington Street ._ _ _ 

H. G. Walden . Franklin. Indiana 



These are the men to whom the health of B Battery 
was intrusted, .Although they were classed as a detach- 
ment, there is little doubt but that they would ha\e been 
members of B Battery in preference to an\- other in the 
regiment hai.1 it been necessary to belong to one in order 
to dish out quinine and C. C, pills. The majority of the 
fellows came from Akron or near there and so were 
naturally attracted to the Akron organization. 

In camps in this country the medical detachment was 
attached to Headquarters Company for rations and 
quarters, but that didn't confine them to that outfit for 
friends. Although they never met a great many of the B 
Batterymen in a professional way. there was alwa\'s a 
spirit of friendship between these pill-rollers and the wag 
on soldiers. Possibly the infrequence of the visits of B 
Battery to the hospital was responsible for this friend- 
ship — who knows '' 

According to the boys who know. B Battery's health 
record was very good; there having been few serious 
cases during the entire Battery career. Credit is due 
the hospital unit for their prompt attention to every 



minor detail in the care of the health. No cold was too 
slight to recei\e its dose of C, C's. and quinine and no 
sprain or bump too small to get its coat of iodine. 

There were many witticisms passed between the 
Batterymen and the M. D s in regard to the relative 
healing c|ualities of iodine and C. C's., the two army 
hospital stand bys. Sergeant Myron Weiss who was 
with the outfit on the border and at FortBenj. Harrison, 
claimed that he could do more to perfect a cure on a B 
Batteryman by using a good line of sympathy talk than 
he could with all the medicine in the hospital. 

In Alabama when the wicked hard cic^er. coca-cola 
and ice cream threatened to cause a lot ot casualties in 
B Battery, it was the C. C's. of the M, D's. that pulled 
them through. A sprain, a kick by a horse, a toothache. 
a bad corn or a lacerated scalp — all recei\ed the same 
treatment; a dose of iodine. If the ailment was where 
It couldn't be seen the prescription was quinine or C. C's. 
These were taken and developments awaited If nothing 
happened the patient was sent to the base hospital and 
the dose repeated. 



Page 230 



The Red Guidon 



If the hospital men Jidn t have what was needed to 
perfect a cure they either tried one of the old stand hys 
or told where the desired compound could be found. 
In event of a had "charley-horse" after a rough football 
or baseball game the bo\s would be gi\'en a tip to go to 
the stable sergeant and get some horse liniment as an 
application. 

The time spent in b ranee was marked by the extra- 
ordinary good health of the Battery. Considering the 
amount of sickness in the different camps in this country 
it was remarkable how well B Battery kept themsehes. 
and it is partially due to the attenti\e hospital unit who 
were always on the job: ne\er allowing the suggestion of 
■' .old to get past the suggesting stage. 



On the front too there was always a man in attendance 
with his belt full of iodine and bandages ready to dress 
a wound at any time. It is probably a lucky thing that 
there were no casualties during that time too. for most of 
the bo\'s w ho came up to the gun positions forgot all they 
knew about bandages in their mad rush for the German 
souvenirs lying around 

After the time spent in the army there are \ery few 
men now who w ill not hand it to the hospital men for one 
thing at least. Through their persistence they pro\'ed 
that o\'er half of the medical practice of today is fake, 
for didn't they keep B Battery well on three remedies, 
quinine, iodine and C. C's. 



Tom Kelly 



T^OM Kelly and 
■*■ "Shorty" Rogers 
were the kids of the 
Akron battery at I't. 
Ben Harrison and 
Camp Sheridan. Tom 
landedin the oldNinth 
section w hen he joined 
the battery and nc\ er 
got out of It until one 
da\ when he got a 
Summary Court Mar- 
tial for talking another 
soldier into taking his 
rebel on guard one 
night It was tough 
sledding for Tom for 
several months. But 
one night Tom packed 
his barracks bag, left 
Camp Sheridan by the 
back way, went toHoboken, turned in, got fi\e days in the 
kitchen for A. W, O, L. went to France and was assigned 
for dutv with the brench artiller\ . 




He began to show the French what he had learned in 
the ninth section about artillery and the first thing he 
knew he was in the Field hospital at X'euilly. France, w ith 
gas on the chest, f-our other American lads gassed with 
him died and three more recovered. He got out ot the 
hospital shortly ofter the .Armistice, got assigned to a job 
tracing railroad cars in the R. T. O. as a corporal, and 
finally come back home a sergeant. 



Do you remember the drunk scene tron-i ElCuspidoro.' 



* * * * 



Fish "rwo-gun" Jones looking lor the second floor oi a 
French billet. 



* + * * 



Do you remember the rush for home w ith your dis- 
charge ^ 






Do you remember the canteen on the ship'' 



Grandpa Joe 



BBAITER^' during the last few months of its stay in 
France was one of the few A, E. F. outfits to be able 
to ad\ertise a grani.lfather as a meml?er of the organiza- 
tion. 

Crand-pop Joseph Stoneberger joined the battery one 
day o\'er in France and became a hostler under the wing 
of Stable Sergeant Dick Lavery. The boys called 
Grand-pop "Uncle Joe. ' 

While Uncle Joe was soldiering with the battery, a 



little sha\'er of a grandson back in Colorado was just 
learning to sa\' grand-pop. Uncle Joe was .3Q, a married 
daughter was \^ and the little fellow was something over 
a year old, 

"1 thought 1 could stand a campaign or two, and so 1 
decided to enlist, Joe used to tell the boys in the battery. 
He joined the army at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and was 
subsequently transferred from place to place in France 
until he reached B Battery, where he stayed. 



The Red Guidon Page 231 



Headquarters, 164th F. A. Brigade. 

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES. 

13th November, 1918. 

From: Commanding General. 

To; Commanding General, 62nd Brigade. 

Subject: Report of Operations of 134th Field Artillery. 

1. Orders have been received relieving the 134th Field Artillery from 
duty in this sector and with the 164th Field Artillery Brigade, and di- 
recting its return to its own command. 

2. I feel it only proper to inform you that this regiment, during its 
service in this sector, has occupied its appropriate part of the front; 
that it has at all times executed its missions efficiently and with a 
display of cheerfulness and promptness that indicates a very high morale 
and state of training. The regiment has been placed in difficult posi- 
tions and has always conducted itself in a way to reflect credit on 
itself, its own brigade, and the one v/ith which, at the time being, it 
was serving. 

3. I shall appreciate it as a favor to me if you will make such record 
of this letter as you may desire, and then either transmit it or make 
known its contents to the Regimental Commander for such use as he may de- 
sire to make of it. 

hcb Brigadier General. / 



Page 232 The Red Guidon 



1st. Ind. 
Commanding General, 62nd Field Artillery Brigade, 

American E. F. , 28th December, 1918- 
To Commanding Officer, 134th Field Artillery. 

1. The Commanding General takes great pleasure in transmitting this 
letter to the Commanding Officer, 134th Field Artillery, and desires at 
this time to express his appreciation of the same high morale and ef- 
ficiency noted by General Donnelly of the 164th F. A. Brigade, which has 
been characteristic of this regiment throughout the period of my command 
of the 62nd F. A. Brigade. 



l^n^ /?^v— w-^ 



Brigadier General, U. S. A. 
K/CH Commanding, 



The Red Guidon Page 233 



TO MY FRIENDS, THE MEN OF B BATTERY: 

We have always accepted the belief that the 134th was the best 
regiment in the 62nd Field Artillery Brigade. And with every man in B 
Battery it has been tradition that this battery was unequalled in per- 
sonnel and efficiency as a unit. Within the battery itself there was 
always a keen rivalry between the sections. Even between members of a 
section there was continual competition. Drivers upheld the merits of 
their respective pairs against all comers. And any cannoneer can tell 
you who was the best gunner, or number one man in the battery (ask him). 

But as a unit, they worked together. They attained in the 
highest degree that quality which is essential to success of any organi- 
zation - team play. Battery B believed in itself. Although apparently 
slack at times, they always came through when it was necessary. Fortunate 
indeed is the Battery Commander who is connected with such an outfit. 

Military discipline is merely individual efficiency. I do not 
claim the credit for the discipline of B Battery, nor can I give the 
credit to any one man or group of men. The non-coms were highly effi- 
cient and absolutely reliable-however , any one of them would have had a 
much harder job in any other outfit-and they had the finest group of men 
in the army back of them. Any man in the battery could have taken a 
section and run it as smoothly. Ask a buck-private. 

The secret of the whole thing was in the battery spirit as a 
whole, and in the individual pride of each man in his outfit. While in 
the army, B Battery meant "home" to everyman. The men who transferred to 
other outfits and later rejoined us fully appreciated this. 

Dissention and dissatisfaction were little known. Not that 
orders were always blindly and willingly obeyed, but the men accepted even 
the most disagreeable task with the confidence that it was necessary and 
their duty. Each man used his head to good advantage and believed in 
his own ability and in that of his associates. 

Another thing that was a great factor in the successful 
management of the battery was in the ability of the men to take care of 
themselves under even the most adverse conditions. After the signing of 
the Armistice, if they had been freed from all restraint, half of France 
would have been "policed" up to build a castle on the hill above Ram- 
bluzin. What they did in one week just to make Christmas more enjoyable 
is a good example. I know we would all give a good deal too be back 
there again just for a night or two. Wouln't you like to plow through 
that mud on the Hill going down to the "Theatre Comique?" 

Everyone knows that we made good on the front. We are too 
modest to tell just how good we were. But every man did his bit thor- 
oughly and efficiently: the cooks, the gun crews, the drivers, the 
camouflage men, the gas non-coms, and even the officers. Whether it was 
firing barrages, hauling ammunition, moving the guns forward at night, 
getting supplies up to the firing battery, or making slum, you were all 
"All there !" 

Sincerely, 



]/\jXjl^d^ 



Page 234- The Red (iiiidon 



TO ALL MY GOOD FRIENDS OF B BATTERY: 

Having finished the course of training at Saumur , the pertinent 
question of the hour was "Where do I go from here?" Finally we were 
ordered to report "without delay" (meaning not to stop over in Paris) to 
the commanding general 62nd F. A. Brigade at Camp de Souge. ■ 

Knowing Souge as the "Country that God forgot," I attempted to 
transfer. But "soldiers propose; generals dispose . " 

Major Bartell, heading the reception committee at brigade head- 
quarters, dispensed with the customary finger-prints and herded eight of 
us to the 134th. The "Old man," in his well known manner, told us, 
without the slightest hesitation, what he expected of us and just what 
we were in for. 

Learning that B Battery was to te honored with my second lieuten- 
ancy, I hastened to report to the battery commander. The B. C. was found 
gracefully reclining upon his bunk with the Post in one hand and the 
other affectionately caressing a beautifully bound copy of Artillery 
Drill Regulations. 

At the conclusion of the usual preliminaries, delivered with the 
utmost military courtesy, the captain casually glanced my way and in- 
formed me that I was to be battery 0. D. on the following day. Stop! 
There was one thing more — he was very particular about this. His dark 
eyes flashed and I trembled at the tone of his voice "Can you play 
bridge?" 

The next morning I stood my first formation with the battery. At 
retreat that evening the Top and I had a little difficulty understanding 
each other, and I was a little nervous standing cut in front there all 
alone before all you old-timers, but after that everything was "jake." 

Observing that the reconnaissance officer lived a dog's-life of 
hard work, I decided that I cound be the reconnaissance officer, or noth- 
ing. When I did snag on to it, there remained only two lieutenants to 
do the work of four; so that my downy couch of ease became noticeable 
only by its absence. I always pulled as hard for "recall" to blow as 
any buck-private. 

When we left Souge for the front I considered myself no longer an 
outsider, and B Battery was always "home" to me. 

My association with Captain Leahy and Lieutenant Curtis will always 
remain an enjoyable memory. I cannot give too much praise to 1st Sergeant 
Greene and his splendid body of non-coms. They were soldiers. 

I cannot properly express my regard for the men of the battery. 
They were the finest group of men with whom I have ever been associated. 
It was a privilege to be with B Battery and I regret only that I was not 
with them sooner. 



Sincerely 



/^y^ru^^^^^"^^^^^ 



P. S. I wish to apologize to some of the men for apparently hard 
treatment during gas-drill, but I wasn't nearly so rough on them as I 



was on some of our horses. 



H. E. M. 



CONTENTS 

Page I'a^c 



Deilicatiuii— Tliompsoti. 
Preface. 

Officers Oiilv 1"--^- 

Obituary 23 ^'^"'V nr Marie-Kckert 1. 

Ked (niidon Association— Hitter mid Funk 24-25 I'aniuus Saying— Staff 



riu- I'ii si SIkiI llausnian ' 1 fj^ 

I'lu- ( ioiiKinictcr Men — Eckert ■• 1 6/ 



History — Thompson, Murphy, ilansnian 27-102 

Thirty- Seventh Division - Kell\- a 103 



Sign;i| Detail— Murphy 171 

liar If i->nc — llausnian 1 7_' 



A Letter from the Editors-Funk 104 ••11-11 II" :m,\ 1! Ilattery -Thumpson 17.! 



li Uattery Spirit — Eckert - 105 

They're Off to the Races — Thompson AOb 



Kuit 
Miiniti.iiis Men .\lnr]ihy 



Canteens— Murphy - 107 l.etleis from Home Eckert 17S 



'I'he Top Sergeant's I )ream — Thfjiiipson UtS 



I Inr Echelons -Eeckerl 17 



The lloMl. ricks— Thompson 109 I iKincr.ito, IVte Ihompson Isl, 

l; llatterv Aless— Kellv 110 I 1..11..th iKitel- l;;n roiylon I8J 

The Top -Earl VounK ...Ill ■''"'""• ' ''-'I""'"- > ourt- Eckert lS.i 

McKcever— Thompson Ill Christmas. PMs -Murphy ISS 

I'erio.l Check— Thompson 113 ■"' .\ 4 x .!'■ n.uism.ni I'ill 

The I'-our Sergeants— Muri.hy IKS '■' ^' "■' I'.in^ienne Thompson I'Ml 

The (;encral — Kellv 117 ^'" '' ' ■" '■"• '''"'' i;ckert I'O 

l-"uel--l;ansnian US I '"' I'"'" NnniMurpln I'M 

.\rmv Hopes— Eckert 11') I nl,,rm.,t ion |.;.o I ^onn^;, l'',S 

Sp..rts-Staff lJl-130 '-'■ '■' •.\"Hers Kckert I"7 

Dick I.avery— Thompson 132 He'-iiMiit; ll.iiiMiian JDO 

I'sychological I'~.\aminalion -Summers 135 l.oinse Kitlci Jill 

K llattery I'ets— fiausnian 137 I S ^ \. « II; „lnre Uausmaii JDJ 

CoiiiH liver— Ilausman • 141 Wi'ic. Il.ak hoiii Eraiice— Ennk . JIM 

riie Censor -P.ausman 144 lluCi-l I l.i> li.uisman Jll7 

Soinenrrs Murphy 145 I ..nleiil im in Ihinsman Jll" 

"I he ^■sleta llike-Don Scott 149 MoIh- Kelly Jill 

I he Ineellfiel.l H ike-.M ur|.lly 1511 ^i"i> li"'^ l-ck.rl JIJ 

The Parade in Montgomery .Murphy 151 -^ ^oldni s Kiili.nv.il I.'iiuk JIS 

Mail - Ilausman ' 155 I niic haiough Funk JIS 

Shoe Polish ami ,\Ind - -'I liomp„,n 157 ,'''"■',.''",' ';■"■'':' "'".'"' I liompson 



\" .M. C. .\, SoiiK Hook 



.Machine (inns and Cinmeis Ilausman 15S ,, ,, 

.,,, „ , ,■ , .,., IJuarU-ttes llansinan JJl 

I lie Koad to \ erdnn— I lunnpson 159 |; ||,|i|,.,y's lluii Sli.iu .\liii|.liy JJJ 

Lost natlalion— I'.ansman Ihl Kiillin Funk ' JJJ 

Massacre of llic Mess -- M urphy Ifi3 Medicos 1-: W Parlon, M 11 JJ5 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Pag 



Page 



ICx Lilius — Rhoades 

Ammunition Detail — Kitter 6 I iicinei ,iloi l',ir Kelly ISI 

Sketches— Kelly 72-90 CInislm.is. PMS l-'unk ISS 

Sketch — Rhoades lOJ '' -"' "• ■■« ■' Rhoades Ion 

I'oliced Cazzette — Kelly 120 '•■■» ^ '•■ Parisieiine — Funk HHI 

Going Over — Funk _ 141 Sketch Kelly 1<)J 

Censor — Funk 144 ""•"■ 'Iniil Kelly 194 

Parades, Hikes, Reviews— Funk 147 V'lick from Ir.inci — Kitter 204 

Vsleta Hike — Rhoades 149 .Music ( onnlc i kell> 211 

Shoe Polish and Mud — Funk 157 <'irl Pack llomi. Innk Jp) 

lioa.l to Verdun— Funk 159 Sketch— Uhna.hs _'_>! 

Massacre of the .Mess— Kelly 163 Kultur- l-'niik JJ3 

First Shot — I-'unk 166 Sketch - Kelly _ 224 

Mary and Marie — Funk , __ 169 iMaps II. P. Scott SO 

II II II and V, Battery (decoralionl I'mik 173 I'lo.logr.iphs collected hy Kitter. 

II llll and I! Pattery ( Illustration ) —Ritlcr 173 tartoons l,v Fuchs 



The cover design for the Red 

Quidon was painted b^ 

A. V. RITTER 






\ 



■re: 



■;'^,;f.> ■ 



LIBRARY OF 



CONGRESS 



,0 020 915 370 1 



Ui^'j^^y ^;V%t\--'.<X't\l ^t:.;^^1^ 




<ji'fi j^:!"^ Vt^fAlfMlrtl jJ13>i!l^'^ ■; 



